1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 3 00:00:12,178 --> 00:00:15,098 [soft music] 4 00:00:15,140 --> 00:00:21,146 * * 5 00:00:21,187 --> 00:00:23,898 - Wrestling is not a love story. 6 00:00:23,940 --> 00:00:25,650 It's much more. 7 00:00:25,692 --> 00:00:29,612 * * 8 00:00:29,654 --> 00:00:30,989 It's hope. 9 00:00:31,031 --> 00:00:35,035 * * 10 00:00:35,076 --> 00:00:37,245 An excuse to be a kid again. 11 00:00:37,287 --> 00:00:38,830 * * 12 00:00:38,872 --> 00:00:41,583 And nothing matters except the moment we are in. 13 00:00:41,624 --> 00:00:46,588 * * 14 00:00:46,629 --> 00:00:50,884 A great man once said that. 15 00:00:50,925 --> 00:00:54,137 That man is my brother, 16 00:00:54,179 --> 00:00:56,097 Windham Rotunda. 17 00:00:56,139 --> 00:00:58,099 [cheers and applause] 18 00:00:58,141 --> 00:01:01,770 But you know him as Bray Wyatt. 19 00:01:01,811 --> 00:01:04,272 [dramatic music] 20 00:01:04,314 --> 00:01:07,067 Tell me this wasn't meant to be. 21 00:01:07,108 --> 00:01:08,943 * * 22 00:01:08,985 --> 00:01:12,030 He knew where he was going from the beginning. 23 00:01:12,072 --> 00:01:15,075 * * 24 00:01:15,116 --> 00:01:17,035 - There's something going on. 25 00:01:17,077 --> 00:01:20,914 - Is that--you know who it is. 26 00:01:20,955 --> 00:01:22,207 [cheers, laughter] 27 00:01:22,248 --> 00:01:24,084 It's Bray Wyatt! 28 00:01:24,125 --> 00:01:25,835 * * 29 00:01:25,877 --> 00:01:28,129 - Bray Wyatt was chaos. 30 00:01:28,171 --> 00:01:29,464 The ultimate villain. 31 00:01:29,506 --> 00:01:32,967 - I am Bray Wyatt, the new face of fear. 32 00:01:33,009 --> 00:01:36,471 - He had the charisma that so many guys don't have. 33 00:01:36,513 --> 00:01:38,098 - Can you feel that? [laughs] 34 00:01:38,139 --> 00:01:39,474 - That "it" quality. 35 00:01:39,516 --> 00:01:42,143 - You hold 100,000 people in the palm of your hand. 36 00:01:42,185 --> 00:01:44,104 - You've got it all. 37 00:01:44,145 --> 00:01:45,605 * * 38 00:01:45,647 --> 00:01:49,109 - When it comes to creativity, Windham had no peers. 39 00:01:49,150 --> 00:01:50,360 - Can I see what that looks like? 40 00:01:50,402 --> 00:01:52,195 - He was not scared to push the limits. 41 00:01:52,237 --> 00:01:53,738 - Yowie-wowie! 42 00:01:53,780 --> 00:01:55,198 - He was a genius. 43 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:58,451 - Dreaming of all these ideas, it's such a cool feeling. 44 00:01:58,493 --> 00:02:00,578 - He changed a whole industry. 45 00:02:00,620 --> 00:02:02,497 - [laughs] 46 00:02:02,539 --> 00:02:05,792 - He put his heart and soul out on his sleeve. 47 00:02:05,834 --> 00:02:07,836 It's one of the geniuses of him, but it's also 48 00:02:07,877 --> 00:02:10,171 one of the things that was difficult to work with him on. 49 00:02:13,717 --> 00:02:17,012 - When you hit creative roadblocks, you reform. 50 00:02:17,053 --> 00:02:18,138 And that's what he did. 51 00:02:18,179 --> 00:02:19,806 * * 52 00:02:19,848 --> 00:02:22,976 - It's time to rewrite my own story. 53 00:02:23,018 --> 00:02:26,062 [dramatic music] 54 00:02:26,104 --> 00:02:29,190 The ridiculously hard times are what strengthened me. 55 00:02:29,232 --> 00:02:33,737 When I was weak, when I was vulnerable, when I was down, 56 00:02:33,778 --> 00:02:35,113 you were there. 57 00:02:35,155 --> 00:02:36,489 [cheers and applause] 58 00:02:36,531 --> 00:02:38,241 This is the best I've ever felt. 59 00:02:38,283 --> 00:02:40,493 * * 60 00:02:40,535 --> 00:02:45,832 - He was bigger than life, and he was loved by millions. 61 00:02:45,874 --> 00:02:48,918 - He had so much more that he wanted to do. 62 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:52,172 - I want to leave a legacy behind for everyone 63 00:02:52,213 --> 00:02:53,923 that ever loved me. 64 00:02:53,965 --> 00:02:55,842 * * 65 00:02:55,884 --> 00:03:01,806 - * He's got the whole world in his hands * 66 00:03:06,394 --> 00:03:08,229 - Creativity. 67 00:03:08,271 --> 00:03:12,400 It comes from many places and takes many shapes. 68 00:03:12,442 --> 00:03:17,197 The place is Western Pennsylvania. 69 00:03:17,238 --> 00:03:23,411 The shape is a character forever known as Bray Wyatt. 70 00:03:25,497 --> 00:03:28,458 [soft music] 71 00:03:28,500 --> 00:03:30,710 * * 72 00:03:30,752 --> 00:03:31,586 - Jason. 73 00:03:31,628 --> 00:03:34,047 - What's going on, buddy? 74 00:03:34,089 --> 00:03:35,590 * * 75 00:03:35,632 --> 00:03:37,175 My name is Jason Baker. 76 00:03:37,217 --> 00:03:40,679 I'm a special makeup effects artist and film director. 77 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:42,597 - Wild looking at all this. 78 00:03:42,639 --> 00:03:44,224 - I know. 79 00:03:44,265 --> 00:03:47,727 I had the honor of creating most of Windham's costumes 80 00:03:47,769 --> 00:03:50,605 and all of his insane ideas. 81 00:03:50,647 --> 00:03:52,816 - You look and see all the things he's done 82 00:03:52,857 --> 00:03:54,359 and accomplished. 83 00:03:54,401 --> 00:03:57,028 - I wish he was here to share it with us. 84 00:03:57,070 --> 00:04:00,615 - Now it's up to us to give him something 85 00:04:00,657 --> 00:04:04,369 he deserves that will let him live on forever. 86 00:04:05,453 --> 00:04:07,122 We owe him something big. 87 00:04:07,163 --> 00:04:08,540 - It's going to be wild. 88 00:04:08,581 --> 00:04:12,627 - Something to truly honor his legacy. 89 00:04:16,172 --> 00:04:19,092 [tense music] 90 00:04:19,134 --> 00:04:26,307 * * 91 00:04:34,858 --> 00:04:37,527 - I grew up in a little town called Brooksville, Florida. 92 00:04:37,569 --> 00:04:40,488 Small little town. 93 00:04:40,530 --> 00:04:42,073 You know, everybody knows your business. 94 00:04:42,115 --> 00:04:43,742 Everybody knows who you are. 95 00:04:43,783 --> 00:04:46,202 Everybody knew who my family was growing up, obviously. 96 00:04:46,244 --> 00:04:47,787 - Come on and let's fight. 97 00:04:47,829 --> 00:04:50,707 - Blackjack Mulligan is my grandfather. 98 00:04:50,749 --> 00:04:52,125 - Blackjack Mulligan. 99 00:04:52,167 --> 00:04:53,960 What a monster. 100 00:04:54,002 --> 00:04:56,796 - My uncles are Barry and Kendall Windham. 101 00:04:56,838 --> 00:04:58,757 - Barry Windham. Kendall Windham. 102 00:04:58,798 --> 00:05:00,467 Two second-generation wrestlers. 103 00:05:00,508 --> 00:05:03,636 - And my father is Mike Rotunda. 104 00:05:03,678 --> 00:05:05,722 - Outstanding athlete out of Syracuse. 105 00:05:05,764 --> 00:05:07,515 A tremendous wrestler. 106 00:05:09,976 --> 00:05:11,895 - I was wrestling down in Florida, 107 00:05:11,936 --> 00:05:13,646 and Dusty Rhodes was the booker. 108 00:05:13,688 --> 00:05:16,900 And he put Barry and I as a tag team together. 109 00:05:18,693 --> 00:05:22,989 - Barry Windham joining Mike Rotunda. 110 00:05:23,031 --> 00:05:26,534 - His sister Stephanie came down to visit. 111 00:05:27,702 --> 00:05:30,163 - My sister had come to stay with me. 112 00:05:30,205 --> 00:05:33,333 Mike, of course, being my best friend, was always over. 113 00:05:33,375 --> 00:05:34,584 You know, I noticed that 114 00:05:34,626 --> 00:05:37,754 they were kind of eyeballing each other. 115 00:05:37,796 --> 00:05:40,632 - I wasn't supposed to really be around the wrestlers. 116 00:05:40,674 --> 00:05:42,676 Said I wasn't interested. 117 00:05:42,717 --> 00:05:46,096 And then I married him six months later. 118 00:05:46,137 --> 00:05:49,224 And we've been married 40 years. 119 00:05:49,265 --> 00:05:51,893 - Over the next few years, the couple 120 00:05:51,935 --> 00:05:56,606 traveled the world together as Mike became a champion. 121 00:05:56,648 --> 00:05:57,607 - Over the hip. 122 00:05:57,649 --> 00:05:59,943 Shoulders down. 123 00:05:59,984 --> 00:06:01,569 Yes, indeed! 124 00:06:01,611 --> 00:06:03,655 We have new tag team champions, 125 00:06:03,697 --> 00:06:07,242 Barry Windham, Mike Rotunda. 126 00:06:07,283 --> 00:06:10,120 - And competed in the first-ever WrestleMania 127 00:06:10,161 --> 00:06:12,872 in New York City. 128 00:06:12,914 --> 00:06:15,250 - Rotunda now gets the Sheik up. 129 00:06:15,291 --> 00:06:18,420 Well-executed suplex. 130 00:06:19,212 --> 00:06:21,423 - Eventually, they settled in Brooksville. 131 00:06:21,464 --> 00:06:25,593 And on May 23, 1987, 132 00:06:25,635 --> 00:06:28,638 Windham Lawrence Rotunda was born. 133 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:29,889 - I was wrestling in 134 00:06:29,931 --> 00:06:31,766 Championship Wrestling of Florida, 135 00:06:31,808 --> 00:06:34,436 and I wrestled Ric Flair that night. 136 00:06:34,477 --> 00:06:36,354 So I get home, nobody's at the house. 137 00:06:36,396 --> 00:06:40,608 My mother-in-law and Steph were at the hospital. 138 00:06:40,650 --> 00:06:43,319 They ended up doing an emergency C-section 139 00:06:43,361 --> 00:06:46,489 because Windham was a big kid. 140 00:06:46,531 --> 00:06:48,450 - He was almost 10 pounds. 141 00:06:48,491 --> 00:06:51,119 Windham was named from the beginning 142 00:06:51,161 --> 00:06:52,871 'cause it's my maiden name. 143 00:06:52,912 --> 00:06:55,665 He was like the little Gerber baby. 144 00:06:55,707 --> 00:06:57,751 Bright, blue eyes and smiley 145 00:06:57,792 --> 00:07:01,129 and curly little blonde ringlets of hair. 146 00:07:01,171 --> 00:07:02,630 He was beautiful. 147 00:07:04,466 --> 00:07:07,093 When he was a little bitty, like, two and three, 148 00:07:07,135 --> 00:07:09,137 he would stand in front of the TV, 149 00:07:09,179 --> 00:07:12,349 and he knew "Ghostbusters," 150 00:07:12,390 --> 00:07:15,602 "Beetlejuice" line-for-line. 151 00:07:15,643 --> 00:07:18,229 - He would watch these movies, 152 00:07:18,271 --> 00:07:22,442 and he would voice pretty much the whole movie 153 00:07:22,484 --> 00:07:24,569 at that young age. 154 00:07:24,611 --> 00:07:27,447 - I remember when he read all the Goosebumps books. 155 00:07:27,489 --> 00:07:30,575 He was addicted to 'em. 156 00:07:30,617 --> 00:07:32,160 But he was just such an imaginative, 157 00:07:32,202 --> 00:07:34,788 imaginative character, and he was always 158 00:07:34,829 --> 00:07:37,457 the center of attention wherever he went. 159 00:07:37,499 --> 00:07:39,292 [soft music] 160 00:07:39,334 --> 00:07:42,462 - Windham wouldn't be an only child for long. 161 00:07:42,504 --> 00:07:47,467 When he was three years old, he got a brother, Taylor. 162 00:07:47,509 --> 00:07:49,719 * * 163 00:07:49,761 --> 00:07:53,139 - Windham was always somebody I looked up to. 164 00:07:53,181 --> 00:07:56,226 Most little brothers do look up to a bigger brother. 165 00:07:56,267 --> 00:07:58,853 But Windham... 166 00:07:58,895 --> 00:08:01,606 I wanted to be just like him. 167 00:08:01,648 --> 00:08:03,650 - And three years later, 168 00:08:03,692 --> 00:08:07,278 he got a little sister too: Mika. 169 00:08:08,738 --> 00:08:11,658 - Brothers are awesome, and I had the two best. 170 00:08:11,700 --> 00:08:13,993 I have felt that way my whole life. 171 00:08:14,035 --> 00:08:15,829 Windham and Taylor were my protectors 172 00:08:15,870 --> 00:08:18,832 and they were my friends and my confidants. 173 00:08:18,873 --> 00:08:20,458 - We were all really, really close. 174 00:08:20,500 --> 00:08:22,627 But in our younger years, me and Windham 175 00:08:22,669 --> 00:08:24,129 played practical jokes. 176 00:08:24,170 --> 00:08:26,464 We convinced her at one point that there was 177 00:08:26,506 --> 00:08:29,342 an invisible man living in her closet. 178 00:08:29,384 --> 00:08:31,845 Anytime she was about to tell on us, we'd be like, 179 00:08:31,886 --> 00:08:35,306 do you want us to call on--hmm? 180 00:08:35,348 --> 00:08:37,559 - Those kids played hard with each other. 181 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:38,768 I remember them, like, roughhousing 182 00:08:38,810 --> 00:08:40,061 in our living room. 183 00:08:40,103 --> 00:08:42,731 We were really close to Mike and Stephanie 184 00:08:42,772 --> 00:08:44,691 and Windham and Taylor growing up. 185 00:08:44,733 --> 00:08:47,694 Mike was one of my dad's best friends. 186 00:08:47,736 --> 00:08:49,988 Those kids, they were vibrant. 187 00:08:50,030 --> 00:08:52,574 They, all three, have so much personality. 188 00:08:55,744 --> 00:08:57,495 [cheers and applause] 189 00:08:57,537 --> 00:09:01,041 - As the Rotunda children grew up, their father 190 00:09:01,082 --> 00:09:04,210 developed a new identity in the ring. 191 00:09:04,252 --> 00:09:07,005 - My dad was IRS, Irwin R. Schyster. 192 00:09:08,965 --> 00:09:14,054 - I told you tax cheats before, everyone pays their taxes! 193 00:09:14,095 --> 00:09:18,767 No one will rest in peace until all your taxes are paid. 194 00:09:18,808 --> 00:09:20,810 [crowd booing] 195 00:09:20,852 --> 00:09:26,149 - Even I shared the ring with IRS. 196 00:09:26,191 --> 00:09:27,400 - Look at this! 197 00:09:27,442 --> 00:09:28,777 Yeah! 198 00:09:31,863 --> 00:09:34,282 - I remember seeing young Bray Wyatt 199 00:09:34,324 --> 00:09:36,076 just hanging out back watching his dad, 200 00:09:36,117 --> 00:09:38,745 just mesmerized, you know, watching his dad stretch 201 00:09:38,787 --> 00:09:40,413 and work out in the ring. 202 00:09:40,455 --> 00:09:43,625 You know, you could tell he wanted to be in the ring. 203 00:09:43,667 --> 00:09:46,836 - I remember one time in particular, 204 00:09:46,878 --> 00:09:50,423 I saw my dad was in a tag match with Ted DiBiase 205 00:09:50,465 --> 00:09:51,925 against The Nasty Boys. 206 00:09:51,966 --> 00:09:54,427 - Oh, God. Look at this. Uh-oh. 207 00:09:54,469 --> 00:09:55,720 - Will it be the pit stop? 208 00:09:55,762 --> 00:09:57,972 - I wanna see this. 209 00:09:58,014 --> 00:09:59,933 - They put my dad in the corner, 210 00:09:59,974 --> 00:10:02,477 and they stuck their armpits in his face. 211 00:10:02,519 --> 00:10:04,229 And I remember being backstage 212 00:10:04,270 --> 00:10:06,314 and my mom having to hold me back 213 00:10:06,356 --> 00:10:08,233 because I was a little 7-year-old kid 214 00:10:08,274 --> 00:10:10,443 and I was about to run in this ring. 215 00:10:10,485 --> 00:10:11,778 That's where it started. 216 00:10:11,820 --> 00:10:13,279 I knew that I had to get in there. 217 00:10:13,321 --> 00:10:15,115 I wanted to be just like my dad. 218 00:10:15,156 --> 00:10:17,242 I wanted to be in the WWE. 219 00:10:20,203 --> 00:10:24,708 - By the early 2000s, Windham used his size 220 00:10:24,749 --> 00:10:27,502 to excel in high school sports. 221 00:10:27,544 --> 00:10:30,130 - Growing up, especially if you're heavyset like I was 222 00:10:30,171 --> 00:10:31,631 when I was a kid, you had to learn 223 00:10:31,673 --> 00:10:33,967 how to be tough at a real young age. 224 00:10:34,009 --> 00:10:36,302 As soon as I was old enough, any contact sport 225 00:10:36,344 --> 00:10:39,139 I could get my hands on, I was into it. 226 00:10:39,180 --> 00:10:40,598 - He was a good football player. 227 00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:41,683 Played both ways. 228 00:10:41,725 --> 00:10:44,310 Made all-star teams. 229 00:10:44,352 --> 00:10:46,771 - He really, really was an unbelievable athlete. 230 00:10:46,813 --> 00:10:49,149 He ran a 4.8 40. 231 00:10:49,190 --> 00:10:51,901 And the strength he had and the agility for the size 232 00:10:51,943 --> 00:10:54,446 that he had, just unbelievable. 233 00:10:54,487 --> 00:10:57,532 - Windham was an anomaly-- everything, but especially 234 00:10:57,574 --> 00:10:59,159 amateur wrestling and high school. 235 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:01,453 By the time it was time for his match, 236 00:11:01,494 --> 00:11:03,288 the gym would quiet down. 237 00:11:03,329 --> 00:11:05,415 And when he would wrestle, the whole gymnasium 238 00:11:05,457 --> 00:11:07,792 would just stop to watch what he was doing. 239 00:11:07,834 --> 00:11:11,338 He was a draw at 17. 240 00:11:11,379 --> 00:11:14,549 - Windham won the heavyweight wrestling state title 241 00:11:14,591 --> 00:11:17,344 and was all-state in football. 242 00:11:17,385 --> 00:11:21,765 In 2005, he graduated and chose to continue 243 00:11:21,806 --> 00:11:26,102 playing football 3,000 miles away. 244 00:11:26,144 --> 00:11:27,604 - I went and played junior college football 245 00:11:27,645 --> 00:11:31,733 at College of the Sequoias in Visalia, California. 246 00:11:31,775 --> 00:11:34,527 - Windham excelled and was named an All-American 247 00:11:34,569 --> 00:11:36,363 offensive lineman. 248 00:11:36,404 --> 00:11:39,032 Two years later, he transferred to Division I 249 00:11:39,074 --> 00:11:43,244 Troy University in Alabama. 250 00:11:43,286 --> 00:11:45,288 - I think that's where I really learned to be tough. 251 00:11:45,330 --> 00:11:46,915 You know, it pushed me to the edge. 252 00:11:46,956 --> 00:11:49,668 To play in Division I football ain't no joke. 253 00:11:49,709 --> 00:11:52,545 - Being a college athlete was incredibly challenging. 254 00:11:52,587 --> 00:11:54,255 It's a full-time job. 255 00:11:54,297 --> 00:11:56,007 When you're coming up in a family 256 00:11:56,049 --> 00:11:57,509 of professional athletes 257 00:11:57,550 --> 00:12:00,053 and you see this devotion, you don't know anything 258 00:12:00,095 --> 00:12:02,514 other than to give everything you've got. 259 00:12:02,555 --> 00:12:05,016 He dreamt of playing for the Oakland Raiders. 260 00:12:05,058 --> 00:12:07,227 And like, that's where he wanted to be, 261 00:12:07,268 --> 00:12:09,437 and that's what he wanted to do. 262 00:12:09,479 --> 00:12:13,733 - While Windham worked towards a future in the NFL, 263 00:12:13,775 --> 00:12:17,987 he often made the 6.5-hour drive home to see his family 264 00:12:18,029 --> 00:12:20,031 in Brooksville. 265 00:12:20,073 --> 00:12:22,325 - I was 15, and I was very self-conscious 266 00:12:22,367 --> 00:12:24,035 because I was really overweight. 267 00:12:24,077 --> 00:12:27,163 And the only thing that made it better was Windham. 268 00:12:27,205 --> 00:12:28,957 And I called him and I told him, 269 00:12:28,998 --> 00:12:30,834 I'm the only freshman on homecoming court. 270 00:12:30,875 --> 00:12:33,712 And I said, I know you're in the middle of football season. 271 00:12:33,753 --> 00:12:35,005 It would mean everything if you could just 272 00:12:35,046 --> 00:12:37,257 walk me down the field. 273 00:12:37,298 --> 00:12:39,050 He showed up with a bouquet of flowers. 274 00:12:39,092 --> 00:12:40,593 And I was so scared. 275 00:12:40,635 --> 00:12:42,929 But when your big brother, who's your hero, 276 00:12:42,971 --> 00:12:45,015 who's your favorite icon, shows up 277 00:12:45,056 --> 00:12:48,393 just to walk you down the field, it vanishes. 278 00:12:48,435 --> 00:12:50,395 - When I was a senior in high school, 279 00:12:50,437 --> 00:12:52,772 I was going to the state championships. 280 00:12:52,814 --> 00:12:54,774 And my brother was a state champion. 281 00:12:54,816 --> 00:12:56,985 And I wanted to be just like him. 282 00:12:57,027 --> 00:12:58,486 He wanted to come and see me. 283 00:12:58,528 --> 00:13:01,239 But he said, I'm only going to come and see you 284 00:13:01,281 --> 00:13:04,034 in the finals because I know you're going to make it 285 00:13:04,075 --> 00:13:06,119 to the finals and I know you're going to win. 286 00:13:06,161 --> 00:13:08,079 And that's all I need to see. 287 00:13:08,121 --> 00:13:11,374 So long story short, I went into the tournament 288 00:13:11,416 --> 00:13:14,919 and I suffered an injury and I was unable to compete. 289 00:13:14,961 --> 00:13:16,671 And the only thing running through my head 290 00:13:16,713 --> 00:13:18,882 was I let my brother down. 291 00:13:18,923 --> 00:13:20,425 * * 292 00:13:20,467 --> 00:13:22,802 Finally got home, and Windham was already 293 00:13:22,844 --> 00:13:24,137 waiting in the driveway 294 00:13:24,179 --> 00:13:25,889 sitting on the back of his tailgate. 295 00:13:25,930 --> 00:13:27,432 And before I even made it to him, 296 00:13:27,474 --> 00:13:32,479 he made it to me with a big hug. 297 00:13:32,520 --> 00:13:34,147 And... 298 00:13:36,858 --> 00:13:39,069 He whispered into my ear... 299 00:13:43,281 --> 00:13:46,284 "None of that shit matters." 300 00:13:46,326 --> 00:13:48,703 None of that shit matters. 301 00:13:48,745 --> 00:13:50,789 That's really who Windham was. 302 00:13:50,830 --> 00:13:54,209 It was the love of his family and making sure 303 00:13:54,250 --> 00:13:58,963 I felt OK after I felt like I let him down. 304 00:13:59,005 --> 00:14:02,175 That's what mattered to him. 305 00:14:02,217 --> 00:14:05,387 - By 2008, Windham was relegated 306 00:14:05,428 --> 00:14:08,348 to a backup role on the Troy University football team, 307 00:14:08,390 --> 00:14:12,769 and his playing time was limited. 308 00:14:12,811 --> 00:14:15,939 - That was kind of a hard time for him because, of course, 309 00:14:15,980 --> 00:14:18,191 his aspirations were pro football. 310 00:14:18,233 --> 00:14:23,363 And it dawned on him that that wasn't going to happen. 311 00:14:23,405 --> 00:14:26,449 - That same year, his 18-year-old brother Taylor 312 00:14:26,491 --> 00:14:31,204 signed with WWE and joined their developmental system. 313 00:14:31,246 --> 00:14:32,664 - I was having my first match, 314 00:14:32,706 --> 00:14:35,542 and Windham drove down from Troy. 315 00:14:35,583 --> 00:14:38,712 I got done and went and met him after. 316 00:14:38,753 --> 00:14:41,673 And he's like, "I'm not going back to school. 317 00:14:41,715 --> 00:14:44,092 I want to do this with you." 318 00:14:44,134 --> 00:14:47,595 - That decision would change the course of Windham's life. 319 00:14:52,100 --> 00:14:55,020 [tense music] 320 00:14:55,061 --> 00:14:57,689 * * 321 00:15:00,900 --> 00:15:03,111 - In 2008, Windham walked away 322 00:15:03,153 --> 00:15:04,946 from the Troy University's football team 323 00:15:04,988 --> 00:15:06,573 and joined his brother Taylor 324 00:15:06,614 --> 00:15:09,909 in WWE's developmental system, FCW. 325 00:15:09,951 --> 00:15:12,245 all: FCW! FCW! - Slow down, folks. 326 00:15:12,287 --> 00:15:14,497 - Windham came from college football. 327 00:15:14,539 --> 00:15:17,625 And then kind of overnight, was just with FCW. 328 00:15:17,667 --> 00:15:20,670 And yeah, everything was new and everything 329 00:15:20,712 --> 00:15:22,714 was scary and exciting. 330 00:15:22,756 --> 00:15:24,466 But I think what gave him comfort 331 00:15:24,507 --> 00:15:26,676 was that his brother was there. 332 00:15:26,718 --> 00:15:29,596 - He moved down to Tampa, and we got a house together. 333 00:15:29,637 --> 00:15:32,015 And we loved it. 334 00:15:32,057 --> 00:15:35,018 It was one of my favorite times of my life. 335 00:15:35,060 --> 00:15:37,103 We did everything together. 336 00:15:37,145 --> 00:15:38,271 We went to work together. 337 00:15:38,313 --> 00:15:39,647 We talked about work. 338 00:15:39,689 --> 00:15:42,067 And we ended up starting to tag together. 339 00:15:42,108 --> 00:15:43,943 And we were Bo and Duke Rotundo. 340 00:15:43,985 --> 00:15:47,197 And that was our life. 341 00:15:47,238 --> 00:15:48,740 - I was 16. 342 00:15:48,782 --> 00:15:50,158 I got my driver's license. 343 00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:51,826 And the first place I ever drove 344 00:15:51,868 --> 00:15:55,955 was to the Brooksville armory to watch my brothers. 345 00:15:55,997 --> 00:15:58,875 - From Brooksville, Florida, 346 00:15:58,917 --> 00:16:03,296 Bo and Duke Rotundo! 347 00:16:03,338 --> 00:16:05,465 [cheers and applause] 348 00:16:05,507 --> 00:16:07,592 - Proud papa. Proud mama. 349 00:16:07,634 --> 00:16:10,178 My parents were both really proud of the boys. 350 00:16:10,220 --> 00:16:12,180 - They didn't get any roads paved for them 351 00:16:12,222 --> 00:16:13,598 or silver spoon handed to them. 352 00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:16,351 They had to come in like everybody else. 353 00:16:16,393 --> 00:16:18,353 - What an opportunity here to see two 354 00:16:18,395 --> 00:16:20,480 homegrown guys, man, right here. 355 00:16:20,522 --> 00:16:22,148 Duke and Bo, man, this is going to be 356 00:16:22,190 --> 00:16:23,650 a really special outing for them. 357 00:16:23,692 --> 00:16:25,694 Big ol' Duke just a roughhouse. 358 00:16:25,735 --> 00:16:29,155 He's a little green still, but he's got the get-go will. 359 00:16:31,408 --> 00:16:33,326 - This is a really, really tough business. 360 00:16:33,368 --> 00:16:35,203 But to have someone 361 00:16:35,245 --> 00:16:37,664 that you can trust with absolutely anything 362 00:16:37,706 --> 00:16:40,625 is unheard of in this business, and I had that. 363 00:16:40,667 --> 00:16:43,128 You are looking at the most explosive tag team 364 00:16:43,169 --> 00:16:47,257 in FCW, the Rotundo Brothers. 365 00:16:47,298 --> 00:16:50,260 - And it's high time that we bring those titles back 366 00:16:50,301 --> 00:16:54,848 to their new rightful home, Brooksville, Florida. 367 00:16:54,889 --> 00:16:58,768 - We have new tag team champions, 368 00:16:58,810 --> 00:17:01,855 the Rotundos, Bo and Duke. 369 00:17:01,896 --> 00:17:04,190 - Right away, the Rotundo Brothers 370 00:17:04,232 --> 00:17:07,318 impressed a WWE legend. 371 00:17:07,360 --> 00:17:09,779 - I had offered my gym Hard Nocks South 372 00:17:09,821 --> 00:17:13,116 as the first developmental strength territory. 373 00:17:13,158 --> 00:17:15,243 So I used to see Windham all the time. 374 00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:17,829 We separated them into groups 375 00:17:17,871 --> 00:17:19,372 based on their athletic ability, 376 00:17:19,414 --> 00:17:21,291 and Windham was in the top group. 377 00:17:21,332 --> 00:17:23,126 But he was the only guy that would have 378 00:17:23,168 --> 00:17:25,795 everyone laughing all the time. 379 00:17:25,837 --> 00:17:30,216 He would come up with sketches in the gym, bring costumes. 380 00:17:30,258 --> 00:17:32,344 - It puts the lotion on its skin, 381 00:17:32,385 --> 00:17:34,095 or else it gets the hose again. 382 00:17:34,137 --> 00:17:35,764 - Do you want to get dipped in water? 383 00:17:35,805 --> 00:17:36,973 - Yeah. 384 00:17:37,015 --> 00:17:38,099 - You can't swim with Saran wrap on. 385 00:17:38,141 --> 00:17:40,352 - Bad boys don't get headbands. 386 00:17:40,393 --> 00:17:42,103 - It's one of those things you see on and be like, 387 00:17:42,145 --> 00:17:43,855 he's on to something. 388 00:17:43,897 --> 00:17:45,398 - Look into these eyes, boy. 389 00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:48,193 A demon lives behind these eyes. 390 00:17:48,234 --> 00:17:51,196 A demon that you created. 391 00:17:51,237 --> 00:17:54,324 - I mean, you could go back and find old tapes of Windham 392 00:17:54,366 --> 00:17:55,617 at promo class. 393 00:17:55,658 --> 00:17:57,285 You could take any one of those characters 394 00:17:57,327 --> 00:17:59,746 and put them right on TV. 395 00:17:59,788 --> 00:18:02,457 - Windham's magnetic personality and work ethic 396 00:18:02,499 --> 00:18:04,709 didn't go unnoticed. 397 00:18:04,751 --> 00:18:07,754 Within a year, the 23-year-old would be 398 00:18:07,796 --> 00:18:11,174 featured on a new show called "NXT." 399 00:18:12,550 --> 00:18:15,011 - "NXT" was a game show where, essentially, 400 00:18:15,053 --> 00:18:17,514 you had up-and-coming wrestlers who would compete 401 00:18:17,555 --> 00:18:19,599 to be the next breakout star. 402 00:18:19,641 --> 00:18:21,685 And then we had a group of what were termed to be 403 00:18:21,726 --> 00:18:24,646 pros who were acting as judges. 404 00:18:24,688 --> 00:18:27,982 - And Windham got a new name. 405 00:18:28,024 --> 00:18:30,610 - I don't believe Cody Rhodes is that enthused 406 00:18:30,652 --> 00:18:34,280 about his rookie Husky Harris. 407 00:18:34,322 --> 00:18:36,157 - Well, he was called Husky Harris. 408 00:18:36,199 --> 00:18:38,243 - I thought it was a little-- you know, 409 00:18:38,284 --> 00:18:41,413 it wasn't complimentary by any means. 410 00:18:41,454 --> 00:18:43,748 - I know Windham really didn't like the name. 411 00:18:43,790 --> 00:18:45,750 He felt it was poking fun at his physique 412 00:18:45,792 --> 00:18:46,543 more than anything. 413 00:18:46,584 --> 00:18:47,877 - What can you say about 414 00:18:47,919 --> 00:18:49,879 Husky Harris that you can't see? 415 00:18:49,921 --> 00:18:51,047 - He's husky. 416 00:18:51,089 --> 00:18:52,424 - Come on, baby! 417 00:18:52,465 --> 00:18:54,759 - Husky Harris? 418 00:18:54,801 --> 00:18:56,219 I don't know, man. 419 00:18:56,261 --> 00:18:57,637 I can only imagine how frustrated 420 00:18:57,679 --> 00:18:58,930 he must have been with that. 421 00:18:58,972 --> 00:19:01,182 I don't know if, in my most creative hour, 422 00:19:01,224 --> 00:19:02,434 could I have made this work. 423 00:19:02,475 --> 00:19:04,352 - She wants me. Hmm. 424 00:19:07,689 --> 00:19:08,815 - Oh, God. 425 00:19:08,857 --> 00:19:10,191 - Terrible. 426 00:19:10,233 --> 00:19:12,861 When I look back at the Husky Harris, 427 00:19:12,902 --> 00:19:15,864 I just see that sad little boy. 428 00:19:15,905 --> 00:19:18,033 It was just a terrible, terrible time. 429 00:19:18,074 --> 00:19:20,952 And it was a figment of someone else's imagination 430 00:19:20,994 --> 00:19:23,580 that they tried to push on a person. 431 00:19:23,621 --> 00:19:26,499 - I feel like he knew in his heart that wasn't what 432 00:19:26,541 --> 00:19:28,543 his destiny was supposed to be. 433 00:19:28,585 --> 00:19:31,046 That Husky Harris character, it allowed him to want more. 434 00:19:31,087 --> 00:19:33,131 It drove him to want more. 435 00:19:34,049 --> 00:19:36,384 - While Windham wanted more professionally, 436 00:19:36,426 --> 00:19:39,596 personally, he was thriving. 437 00:19:39,637 --> 00:19:41,890 Windham had been dating his girlfriend Samantha 438 00:19:41,931 --> 00:19:44,017 for three years. 439 00:19:44,059 --> 00:19:47,103 And on November 14, 2010, 440 00:19:47,145 --> 00:19:50,940 they welcomed their first daughter, Cadyn. 441 00:19:52,233 --> 00:19:54,319 - He was on the European Tour. 442 00:19:54,361 --> 00:19:56,613 And it started getting closer and closer. 443 00:19:56,654 --> 00:19:59,407 And I called him and said, I'm going to go to the hospital. 444 00:19:59,449 --> 00:20:01,951 I'm going. He's like, oh, God. 445 00:20:01,993 --> 00:20:04,871 It was hours that he was just on the phone with me. 446 00:20:04,913 --> 00:20:07,707 Sorry. 447 00:20:07,749 --> 00:20:10,710 And she was born. 448 00:20:10,752 --> 00:20:13,254 And he heard the whole thing. 449 00:20:13,296 --> 00:20:16,633 I refused to let anybody see her until he saw her. 450 00:20:16,675 --> 00:20:18,593 And she was about two, three days old. 451 00:20:18,635 --> 00:20:20,220 And he was like, oh, my God. 452 00:20:20,261 --> 00:20:21,846 He didn't know how to hold her. 453 00:20:21,888 --> 00:20:22,889 I said, like a football. 454 00:20:22,931 --> 00:20:24,766 You're good. 455 00:20:24,808 --> 00:20:28,186 - She was a happy-go-lucky little girl and beautiful. 456 00:20:28,228 --> 00:20:31,690 And she looked just like him. 457 00:20:31,731 --> 00:20:33,692 - For sure, it changed his life. 458 00:20:33,733 --> 00:20:36,736 It gave him direction and a purpose 459 00:20:36,778 --> 00:20:38,822 because it wasn't just about him anymore. 460 00:20:38,863 --> 00:20:41,241 It was about his beautiful child. 461 00:20:41,282 --> 00:20:43,076 [soft music] 462 00:20:43,118 --> 00:20:46,871 - At that time, Paul Levesque, also known as Triple H, 463 00:20:46,913 --> 00:20:50,625 was head of creative for WWE Developmental. 464 00:20:50,667 --> 00:20:53,837 - Windham was in the company as Husky Harris. 465 00:20:53,878 --> 00:20:55,422 Didn't feel like it was working. 466 00:20:55,463 --> 00:20:57,674 Didn't feel like it was going to work. 467 00:20:57,716 --> 00:20:59,592 I think we have him miscast. 468 00:20:59,634 --> 00:21:02,012 He's really talented. 469 00:21:02,053 --> 00:21:05,849 Let me take him, put him back down in Florida, 470 00:21:05,890 --> 00:21:10,395 and let me see what I can get out of him. 471 00:21:13,106 --> 00:21:16,443 - He didn't want to be this cookie-cutter--little tights. 472 00:21:16,484 --> 00:21:18,820 Windham from day one was like, no [bleep] way, man. 473 00:21:18,862 --> 00:21:21,448 That's not my stuff. I'm different. 474 00:21:21,489 --> 00:21:24,325 And he was sent back to FCW. 475 00:21:24,367 --> 00:21:28,705 He got in the car smiling, laughing like, listen, listen. 476 00:21:30,874 --> 00:21:34,044 The entire 3 1/2-hour ride, he was just showing me videos 477 00:21:34,085 --> 00:21:37,005 and telling me ideas and all this stuff. 478 00:21:37,047 --> 00:21:40,050 It was crazy and all over the place. 479 00:21:40,091 --> 00:21:42,719 And I'm like, what are you even talking about, man? 480 00:21:42,761 --> 00:21:44,804 And he was telling me about Waylon Mercy 481 00:21:44,846 --> 00:21:46,639 and we were watching videos of that. 482 00:21:46,681 --> 00:21:49,768 - Waylon Mercy, he's a peaceful man. 483 00:21:49,809 --> 00:21:52,937 He likes his peaceful surroundings. 484 00:21:52,979 --> 00:21:55,565 - Those are the eeriest, strangest-looking eyes 485 00:21:55,607 --> 00:21:56,858 I've ever seen. 486 00:21:56,900 --> 00:21:59,027 Look at this. 487 00:21:59,069 --> 00:22:01,946 - And he's telling me about Robert De Niro's demeanor 488 00:22:01,988 --> 00:22:03,907 from "Cape Fear." 489 00:22:03,948 --> 00:22:07,243 The next week rolled around and we had promo class, 490 00:22:07,285 --> 00:22:11,414 and it blew everybody's mind. 491 00:22:11,456 --> 00:22:15,460 - Because I am like God, and God like me. 492 00:22:15,502 --> 00:22:17,253 You know, I'm as large as him. 493 00:22:17,295 --> 00:22:20,048 He is as small as I. 494 00:22:20,090 --> 00:22:21,841 [chuckles] 495 00:22:21,883 --> 00:22:26,930 - And just like that, Bray Wyatt was born. 496 00:22:26,971 --> 00:22:29,307 - He really attributed a lot of Bray 497 00:22:29,349 --> 00:22:31,267 to growing up in Brooksville. 498 00:22:31,309 --> 00:22:33,603 - He had a really, really close friend growing up, 499 00:22:33,645 --> 00:22:35,188 Brae White. 500 00:22:35,230 --> 00:22:38,817 Still to this day, the craziest mother[bleep] I've ever met. 501 00:22:38,858 --> 00:22:40,193 And this is a real person. 502 00:22:40,235 --> 00:22:42,153 He got in a car wreck when he was younger 503 00:22:42,195 --> 00:22:43,488 and his head went through the windshield 504 00:22:43,530 --> 00:22:45,073 and he lost all feeling in his face, 505 00:22:45,115 --> 00:22:46,658 so he'd just headbutt anything. 506 00:22:46,700 --> 00:22:50,662 And a lot of his characteristics 507 00:22:50,704 --> 00:22:53,248 were taken and put into the Bray Wyatt character. 508 00:22:53,289 --> 00:22:58,336 - I have never seen so clearly in all my life. 509 00:22:58,378 --> 00:22:59,713 [laughs] 510 00:22:59,754 --> 00:23:02,048 - Windham's cousin's name is Wyatt. 511 00:23:02,090 --> 00:23:05,343 So Windham kind of mixed it up and came up with Bray Wyatt. 512 00:23:05,385 --> 00:23:08,388 - And they say, Bray Wyatt, well, he's crazy, man. 513 00:23:08,430 --> 00:23:11,182 He's a psychopath. 514 00:23:11,224 --> 00:23:12,726 - He came out, and everything about it-- 515 00:23:12,767 --> 00:23:15,645 the presentation and just the energy-- 516 00:23:15,687 --> 00:23:18,481 we were like, oh, this is good. 517 00:23:18,523 --> 00:23:19,941 This jumps off the page. 518 00:23:19,983 --> 00:23:22,485 - [laughs] 519 00:23:22,527 --> 00:23:24,446 - It blew everybody away. 520 00:23:24,487 --> 00:23:26,072 You wouldn't even know if he was there. 521 00:23:26,114 --> 00:23:28,199 And then all of a sudden, Bray Wyatt would emerge. 522 00:23:28,241 --> 00:23:30,285 And it was truly like he walked into a phone booth 523 00:23:30,326 --> 00:23:32,245 and came out as Superman. 524 00:23:32,287 --> 00:23:33,747 - A lot of times, those promos on promo day 525 00:23:33,788 --> 00:23:34,748 will be 60 seconds. 526 00:23:34,789 --> 00:23:36,583 90 if you ask for it. 527 00:23:36,624 --> 00:23:37,917 Windham would go up there sometimes 528 00:23:37,959 --> 00:23:39,627 for, like, six or seven minutes. 529 00:23:39,669 --> 00:23:42,255 I think Dusty gave him just a lot of room 530 00:23:42,297 --> 00:23:44,257 to explore and to find that character 531 00:23:44,299 --> 00:23:46,301 and to find the voice. 532 00:23:46,343 --> 00:23:49,804 - Dusty knew there was something special there, 533 00:23:49,846 --> 00:23:51,806 and he wasn't going to let it go. 534 00:23:51,848 --> 00:23:54,225 He knew Windham had something that was 535 00:23:54,267 --> 00:23:56,770 going to change the business. 536 00:23:56,811 --> 00:23:58,772 - Said he was Bray. 537 00:23:58,813 --> 00:24:00,690 As we started to enlighten the world 538 00:24:00,732 --> 00:24:03,234 who this Bray Wyatt character was, 539 00:24:03,276 --> 00:24:07,197 Windham is such a unique kid that he understands-- 540 00:24:07,238 --> 00:24:08,490 he believes that. 541 00:24:08,531 --> 00:24:10,283 That's who he is. 542 00:24:10,325 --> 00:24:12,077 That's what makes him so good. 543 00:24:19,876 --> 00:24:21,711 - Dusty called me one day and he said, 544 00:24:21,753 --> 00:24:23,254 "Kid, remember Husky?" 545 00:24:23,296 --> 00:24:24,673 And I was like, yeah. 546 00:24:24,714 --> 00:24:26,299 And he goes, "He's got a new character. 547 00:24:26,341 --> 00:24:27,425 "You're going to love it. 548 00:24:27,467 --> 00:24:28,802 You got to come check it out." 549 00:24:28,843 --> 00:24:32,681 And he cut this promo, and it was so bizarre. 550 00:24:32,722 --> 00:24:35,642 And Dusty said, "What do you think?" 551 00:24:35,684 --> 00:24:38,603 And I'm like, this is a movie character. 552 00:24:40,230 --> 00:24:43,066 - Within months, Windham had an idea. 553 00:24:43,108 --> 00:24:46,111 He wanted an on-screen family. 554 00:24:46,152 --> 00:24:48,780 But his brother Taylor was already an established singles 555 00:24:48,822 --> 00:24:52,784 competitor known as Bo Dallas. 556 00:24:52,826 --> 00:24:58,832 Enter John Huber, also known as Luke Harper. 557 00:24:58,873 --> 00:25:00,959 - I had flown to FCW for the tryout. 558 00:25:01,001 --> 00:25:03,128 And then I get a call from Windham. 559 00:25:03,169 --> 00:25:05,880 And about 10 minutes later, I hang up the phone. 560 00:25:05,922 --> 00:25:07,215 I hadn't said a word. 561 00:25:07,257 --> 00:25:08,883 And this guy had-- 562 00:25:08,925 --> 00:25:11,553 Bray--had rattled off about a million different things. 563 00:25:11,594 --> 00:25:13,596 And I was like, oh, my God, that dude's nuts. 564 00:25:13,638 --> 00:25:15,056 Like, wow. 565 00:25:16,933 --> 00:25:19,519 - Windham and Luke had an immediate bond. 566 00:25:19,561 --> 00:25:21,062 They just connected. 567 00:25:21,104 --> 00:25:24,190 So initially, it just started as Bray and Luke. 568 00:25:24,232 --> 00:25:27,485 We created this environment where, 569 00:25:27,527 --> 00:25:30,613 is he really talking to people or is this all in his mind? 570 00:25:30,655 --> 00:25:31,656 - Here we go. 571 00:25:31,698 --> 00:25:34,117 In three, two, one. 572 00:25:34,159 --> 00:25:35,201 Action. 573 00:25:35,243 --> 00:25:36,661 - Can you feel that? 574 00:25:36,703 --> 00:25:41,332 Come with me, and I will show you a love that is power. 575 00:25:41,374 --> 00:25:44,044 - The first shoot, he's on the river. 576 00:25:44,085 --> 00:25:46,546 It's in the forest right down from our house. 577 00:25:46,588 --> 00:25:49,674 And the guys had to go back in with the alligators 578 00:25:49,716 --> 00:25:52,135 and the mosquitoes and everything. 579 00:25:52,177 --> 00:25:53,928 - I almost fell on that one, buddy. 580 00:25:53,970 --> 00:25:55,263 [laughs] 581 00:25:55,305 --> 00:25:57,515 - Our first house was on 10 acres, and we 582 00:25:57,557 --> 00:26:00,185 were next to a zoo that had lions and big cats 583 00:26:00,226 --> 00:26:02,062 and started hearing, like, lion roars at night. 584 00:26:02,103 --> 00:26:04,230 So unique stuff would happen. 585 00:26:04,272 --> 00:26:05,482 And he pulled from that. 586 00:26:05,523 --> 00:26:08,693 - I wish you'd quit lying to your children, 587 00:26:08,735 --> 00:26:11,029 telling them that there's things out there that 588 00:26:11,071 --> 00:26:13,573 won't go bump in the night. 589 00:26:13,615 --> 00:26:15,241 What they going to do, man? 590 00:26:15,283 --> 00:26:19,204 What you going to do to something like me? 591 00:26:19,245 --> 00:26:21,623 What can they do? 592 00:26:21,664 --> 00:26:23,249 Run. 593 00:26:23,291 --> 00:26:24,584 [tense music] 594 00:26:24,626 --> 00:26:26,169 - There was something special 595 00:26:26,211 --> 00:26:29,756 and something interesting there that could resonate. 596 00:26:29,798 --> 00:26:32,801 - My name is Bray Wyatt. 597 00:26:32,842 --> 00:26:34,594 Pleased to meet you, man. 598 00:26:34,636 --> 00:26:37,263 Help me welcome the first son 599 00:26:37,305 --> 00:26:41,976 of the Wyatt family, Luke Harper. 600 00:26:42,018 --> 00:26:44,020 - This is getting weirder by the second. 601 00:26:44,062 --> 00:26:45,855 - What is happening? 602 00:26:45,897 --> 00:26:48,024 - At the time, I got this Viking gimmick. 603 00:26:48,066 --> 00:26:50,151 And I remember being called into an office like, 604 00:26:50,193 --> 00:26:53,363 "OK, we want you as the second son." 605 00:26:53,405 --> 00:26:55,615 And I was like, that's cool. 606 00:26:55,657 --> 00:26:57,283 What am I wearing? 607 00:26:57,325 --> 00:26:59,369 - Bray wanted Rowan to wear a mask. 608 00:26:59,411 --> 00:27:02,122 So Rowan had a duffel bag full of masks. 609 00:27:02,163 --> 00:27:05,000 And he pulls out this sheep's mask. 610 00:27:05,041 --> 00:27:06,751 And Bray was like, oh, I love it. 611 00:27:06,793 --> 00:27:08,628 That's perfect. 612 00:27:08,670 --> 00:27:10,296 - We are strong. 613 00:27:10,338 --> 00:27:12,257 We are dangerous. 614 00:27:12,298 --> 00:27:14,300 We are family. 615 00:27:14,342 --> 00:27:17,262 [laughs] 616 00:27:17,303 --> 00:27:19,723 - I would bring home these big rocking chairs, 617 00:27:19,764 --> 00:27:21,558 and he and I and Taylor and Mike 618 00:27:21,599 --> 00:27:22,851 would just mess them all up 619 00:27:22,892 --> 00:27:24,144 and make them look rough and beat up. 620 00:27:24,185 --> 00:27:25,770 And that's the one they'll see 621 00:27:25,812 --> 00:27:27,188 in the scene in the barn. 622 00:27:29,816 --> 00:27:31,317 - We were having a blast. 623 00:27:31,359 --> 00:27:33,319 Sometimes, we would watch old interviews 624 00:27:33,361 --> 00:27:35,113 with people that were on death row 625 00:27:35,155 --> 00:27:37,407 because we're trying to see how they speak. 626 00:27:37,449 --> 00:27:39,325 Why do they think they're right? 627 00:27:39,367 --> 00:27:40,493 Just their mindset. 628 00:27:40,535 --> 00:27:42,412 And I think a lot of that plays into, like, 629 00:27:42,454 --> 00:27:43,913 what he was able to create. 630 00:27:43,955 --> 00:27:46,332 [soft music] 631 00:27:46,374 --> 00:27:51,171 - At age 26, Bray Wyatt was an immediate hit. 632 00:27:51,212 --> 00:27:55,759 As Windham's stardom grew, so did his family. 633 00:27:55,800 --> 00:27:57,719 He got married to Samantha. 634 00:27:57,761 --> 00:28:02,932 And on February 7, 2013, his second daughter, Kendyl, 635 00:28:02,974 --> 00:28:05,352 was born. 636 00:28:05,393 --> 00:28:08,188 - Because he had missed the first birth, 637 00:28:08,229 --> 00:28:09,856 I wanted to do everything I could 638 00:28:09,898 --> 00:28:11,691 so he could be there and experience it. 639 00:28:11,733 --> 00:28:13,151 Because I feel like that's something 640 00:28:13,193 --> 00:28:14,527 that you have to experience. 641 00:28:14,569 --> 00:28:18,239 So we elected to be induced with our second. 642 00:28:18,281 --> 00:28:20,867 That way, he could be there. 643 00:28:20,909 --> 00:28:23,787 - Windham was born to do a lot and to be a lot of things. 644 00:28:23,828 --> 00:28:25,705 But being a daddy was number one. 645 00:28:25,747 --> 00:28:27,874 When he loved, he loved massively. 646 00:28:27,916 --> 00:28:31,544 And he had a whole heart to give to his babies. 647 00:28:31,586 --> 00:28:34,172 - We all knew Windham was going to be a great father. 648 00:28:34,214 --> 00:28:38,385 I mean, one of his strongest qualities is how much he loves. 649 00:28:38,426 --> 00:28:41,596 And he already had plans on where he was going 650 00:28:41,638 --> 00:28:43,473 and what he was going to do, but his children, 651 00:28:43,515 --> 00:28:48,561 they just further instilled more and more drive in him. 652 00:28:48,603 --> 00:28:51,272 - Three, two... 653 00:28:52,190 --> 00:28:53,066 [laughter] 654 00:28:53,108 --> 00:28:54,442 - Good. Good. Good. 655 00:28:54,484 --> 00:28:55,443 Tell them. 656 00:28:55,485 --> 00:28:56,569 Tell them, Bray. 657 00:28:56,611 --> 00:28:57,612 - There we go. 658 00:28:57,654 --> 00:28:59,989 Deep in the woods. 659 00:29:00,031 --> 00:29:01,241 - Real deep dive. 660 00:29:01,282 --> 00:29:02,242 - [laughs] 661 00:29:02,283 --> 00:29:03,702 - Come on, guys. 662 00:29:03,743 --> 00:29:05,453 Start it over. 663 00:29:06,329 --> 00:29:09,416 - Preparations were underway to get the Wyatt family 664 00:29:09,457 --> 00:29:12,252 ready for an even bigger stage. 665 00:29:12,293 --> 00:29:14,921 - As you talk about bringing Bray Wyatt 666 00:29:14,963 --> 00:29:18,091 and the family up to Raw or to SmackDown and up 667 00:29:18,133 --> 00:29:19,926 into the big show, now, how do you 668 00:29:19,968 --> 00:29:22,262 take that, put that into an arena? 669 00:29:22,303 --> 00:29:23,430 Let me talk to you 'cause I want you 670 00:29:23,471 --> 00:29:24,681 to understand the psychology of it. 671 00:29:24,723 --> 00:29:25,765 - Let's go right now. I'm ready. 672 00:29:25,807 --> 00:29:27,017 - It's subtle. 673 00:29:27,058 --> 00:29:28,560 That's where the lantern came to be. 674 00:29:28,601 --> 00:29:30,770 I think, when I threw it at him, he loved-- 675 00:29:30,812 --> 00:29:32,313 like, all the lights should go out 676 00:29:32,355 --> 00:29:34,899 and this creepy ass dude comes out 677 00:29:34,941 --> 00:29:36,818 of the swamp holding a lantern. 678 00:29:36,860 --> 00:29:38,903 And just slightly beneath your face. 679 00:29:38,945 --> 00:29:40,572 But it would give me enough light to see that. 680 00:29:40,613 --> 00:29:43,575 Those were the things that we sort of collaborated on 681 00:29:43,616 --> 00:29:46,036 a lot and put the character together. 682 00:29:46,077 --> 00:29:48,705 - That's fun. I like that. 683 00:29:48,747 --> 00:29:53,293 - In the summer of 2013, Bray Wyatt was ready 684 00:29:53,335 --> 00:29:55,628 to make his debut on the national stage. 685 00:29:55,670 --> 00:29:57,130 [dramatic music] 686 00:29:57,172 --> 00:29:59,257 - This is Monday Night Raw. 687 00:29:59,299 --> 00:30:03,970 The WWE fans in Baltimore are on their feet. 688 00:30:04,012 --> 00:30:05,722 - We finally got the call-up. 689 00:30:05,764 --> 00:30:09,809 And I don't know if we really understood what we had. 690 00:30:09,851 --> 00:30:13,855 We knew the "NXT" crowd had responded so well to us. 691 00:30:13,897 --> 00:30:15,607 We never in a million years thought 692 00:30:15,648 --> 00:30:18,818 it was going to explode the way it did. 693 00:30:18,860 --> 00:30:20,528 We're here. 694 00:30:26,534 --> 00:30:28,578 [dramatic music] 695 00:30:28,620 --> 00:30:30,663 - [roaring, grunting] 696 00:30:30,705 --> 00:30:32,749 - Bray Wyatt's emergence on Monday Night Raw 697 00:30:32,791 --> 00:30:36,002 as the leader of the cult-like Wyatt Family 698 00:30:36,044 --> 00:30:41,675 was unlike anything the WWE Universe had seen before. 699 00:30:41,716 --> 00:30:44,135 - He was just such a captivating talker. 700 00:30:44,177 --> 00:30:47,013 And he was doing stuff that no one else was doing. 701 00:30:47,055 --> 00:30:49,224 Because in wrestling, you get so much bombast 702 00:30:49,265 --> 00:30:51,685 and you're taught to, like, play to the nosebleeds. 703 00:30:51,726 --> 00:30:54,646 But the way he could just deliver something very softly 704 00:30:54,688 --> 00:30:56,856 and it would, like, send chills up your spine-- 705 00:30:56,898 --> 00:30:58,858 - Tomorrow morning when you wake up, 706 00:30:58,900 --> 00:31:00,944 you go back to being just another one 707 00:31:00,985 --> 00:31:03,530 of those anonymous souls. 708 00:31:03,571 --> 00:31:04,989 [laughs] 709 00:31:05,031 --> 00:31:06,533 - That stuff, I think, was mesmerizing. 710 00:31:06,574 --> 00:31:09,536 And in many ways, he's portraying this cult leader, 711 00:31:09,577 --> 00:31:10,787 but it almost felt real. 712 00:31:10,829 --> 00:31:13,581 Like, he was gathering people's interest. 713 00:31:13,623 --> 00:31:16,251 - He put his whole heart and soul into that character. 714 00:31:16,292 --> 00:31:19,045 And that transcended through the camera and on TV. 715 00:31:19,087 --> 00:31:20,130 And you could feel it. 716 00:31:20,171 --> 00:31:23,133 all: This is awesome! 717 00:31:23,174 --> 00:31:26,636 - It was eerie, but you knew that it was special 718 00:31:26,678 --> 00:31:29,556 because it felt almost like a movie character. 719 00:31:29,597 --> 00:31:31,266 It felt like you were watching something 720 00:31:31,307 --> 00:31:33,184 that shouldn't be in professional wrestling-- 721 00:31:33,226 --> 00:31:34,769 that didn't fit. 722 00:31:34,811 --> 00:31:36,646 - Oh, my God! 723 00:31:36,688 --> 00:31:39,399 - It was very interesting to watch him create something 724 00:31:39,441 --> 00:31:42,068 that made sense in our world. 725 00:31:43,903 --> 00:31:46,489 - As soon as I saw Bray Wyatt and the Wyatt Family, 726 00:31:46,531 --> 00:31:49,993 I was instantly connected to it. 727 00:31:50,035 --> 00:31:56,041 I've always loved characters that have this darkness to it, 728 00:31:56,082 --> 00:32:00,628 but a darkness that is there for a reason. 729 00:32:00,670 --> 00:32:03,882 - Within a few months, Bray Wyatt was 730 00:32:03,923 --> 00:32:09,387 vaulted into a rivalry with a top star, John Cena. 731 00:32:09,429 --> 00:32:12,307 - I could be just like you. 732 00:32:12,349 --> 00:32:16,227 I could sign autographs and kiss babies 733 00:32:16,269 --> 00:32:20,315 and make sure that everyone buys all my merchandise. 734 00:32:20,357 --> 00:32:24,319 - The main focus of Bray Wyatt's character was chaos. 735 00:32:24,361 --> 00:32:28,406 - I am different than anyone you will ever face. 736 00:32:28,448 --> 00:32:30,450 - The ability to just be a person 737 00:32:30,492 --> 00:32:32,827 that wants to see the world burn. 738 00:32:32,869 --> 00:32:35,413 And man, when you start breaking down 739 00:32:35,455 --> 00:32:38,750 the stuff he was saying, it's, like, super deep. 740 00:32:38,792 --> 00:32:43,129 - The loneliest man on Earth is the man who sits alone 741 00:32:43,171 --> 00:32:46,466 atop his empty castle. 742 00:32:46,508 --> 00:32:49,969 Who will be left for you, John? 743 00:32:50,011 --> 00:32:52,263 - But he was so entertaining that if you didn't take 744 00:32:52,305 --> 00:32:54,140 anything away from it, cool. 745 00:32:54,182 --> 00:32:56,101 And if you wanted to dive in the rabbit hole, 746 00:32:56,142 --> 00:32:58,103 you were going to some weird places. 747 00:32:58,144 --> 00:32:59,646 - [laughs] 748 00:32:59,688 --> 00:33:01,773 all: This is awesome! 749 00:33:01,815 --> 00:33:04,943 - So it was like, holy shit, we got something here. 750 00:33:04,984 --> 00:33:09,447 - At WrestleMania, John Cena takes on Bray Wyatt. 751 00:33:09,489 --> 00:33:15,245 - Windham had made it to the big time, WrestleMania. 752 00:33:15,286 --> 00:33:18,665 - New Orleans, a weird voodoo-based town 753 00:33:18,707 --> 00:33:21,793 to get the WrestleMania debut of Bray Wyatt. 754 00:33:21,835 --> 00:33:23,461 It really was special. 755 00:33:23,503 --> 00:33:25,588 - We all had dreams and goals. 756 00:33:25,630 --> 00:33:27,882 And me and Windham talked about them endlessly. 757 00:33:27,924 --> 00:33:30,927 You know, like, if we can make it to WrestleMania 758 00:33:30,969 --> 00:33:34,556 and get a match on that platform, then we had made it. 759 00:33:34,597 --> 00:33:37,767 - * You could find him in * 760 00:33:37,809 --> 00:33:39,519 - We all knew he was going to get there, 761 00:33:39,561 --> 00:33:43,189 but we didn't know he was going to get there that fast. 762 00:33:43,231 --> 00:33:46,818 - To see him go from the lowest of lows 763 00:33:46,860 --> 00:33:50,405 to figuring out who he was, catching fire, 764 00:33:50,447 --> 00:33:52,157 and then working with one of the greatest 765 00:33:52,198 --> 00:33:54,284 of all time, John Cena, at WrestleMania, 766 00:33:54,325 --> 00:33:55,702 I mean, it's an incredible story, 767 00:33:55,744 --> 00:33:57,871 and especially in such a short period of time. 768 00:33:57,912 --> 00:33:59,205 - And here we go. 769 00:33:59,247 --> 00:34:00,957 This much-anticipated match underway. 770 00:34:00,999 --> 00:34:02,375 Oh! Wow. 771 00:34:02,417 --> 00:34:04,377 - Growing up watching our dad 772 00:34:04,419 --> 00:34:05,378 and watching our uncles 773 00:34:05,420 --> 00:34:07,005 and watching our grandfather, 774 00:34:07,047 --> 00:34:09,716 the grandest stage of all is going to be WrestleMania. 775 00:34:09,758 --> 00:34:13,386 And I remember sitting there going, that's my big brother. 776 00:34:13,428 --> 00:34:15,430 - Bray Wyatt is trying to sway the masses, 777 00:34:15,472 --> 00:34:16,806 and I'm not sure it's not working. 778 00:34:16,848 --> 00:34:19,351 - The shepherd leading his flock. 779 00:34:19,392 --> 00:34:20,769 - We were all excited for him. 780 00:34:20,810 --> 00:34:23,563 And even Mike and I were just, wow. 781 00:34:23,605 --> 00:34:24,898 Wow. 782 00:34:24,939 --> 00:34:26,983 Because it's your kid, and it's, you know, 783 00:34:27,025 --> 00:34:28,068 that was the first time 784 00:34:28,109 --> 00:34:29,569 I saw him bigger than life. 785 00:34:29,611 --> 00:34:31,237 - Cena, second rope. Caught by Wyatt! 786 00:34:31,279 --> 00:34:32,572 Oh! That could be it! 787 00:34:32,614 --> 00:34:33,990 - What an impact! - Shoulders are down! 788 00:34:34,032 --> 00:34:35,116 - Kick out in two. 789 00:34:35,158 --> 00:34:37,577 - I was very happy for him. 790 00:34:37,619 --> 00:34:40,288 It's a good feeling in your heart as a parent 791 00:34:40,330 --> 00:34:44,584 to see your kid work really hard and get rewarded for it. 792 00:34:44,626 --> 00:34:46,711 - Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. 793 00:34:46,753 --> 00:34:48,213 That stopped Cena in his tracks. 794 00:34:48,254 --> 00:34:49,631 - What is that? 795 00:34:49,673 --> 00:34:52,008 - I've never seen a match quite like this. 796 00:34:52,050 --> 00:34:54,803 - 20 years from now, they'll go, wow, this moment 797 00:34:54,844 --> 00:34:56,805 happened with John. 798 00:34:56,846 --> 00:35:00,225 That's what I'm looking forward to. 799 00:35:00,266 --> 00:35:01,726 - AA for Cena. 800 00:35:01,768 --> 00:35:02,852 Hook of the leg. 801 00:35:02,894 --> 00:35:06,523 John Cena's legacy grows. 802 00:35:06,564 --> 00:35:09,609 - It was spectacular. 803 00:35:09,651 --> 00:35:11,277 I'm an advocate for, it takes 10 years 804 00:35:11,319 --> 00:35:12,779 to establish sort of fluency. 805 00:35:12,821 --> 00:35:16,408 And I know Husky Harris didn't work out, but holy shit. 806 00:35:16,449 --> 00:35:19,536 When he came back, it was like fluency in six months. 807 00:35:19,577 --> 00:35:23,039 That is a meteoric rise. 808 00:35:23,081 --> 00:35:24,624 - An incredible scene. 809 00:35:24,666 --> 00:35:27,043 And the sea of Fireflies-- what Bray Wyatt 810 00:35:27,085 --> 00:35:29,671 calls his followers-- lighting the arena. 811 00:35:31,047 --> 00:35:34,968 [soft music] 812 00:35:35,010 --> 00:35:37,470 - The lantern, to me, is like-- this is one of the many things 813 00:35:37,512 --> 00:35:39,014 I loved about your brother is that 814 00:35:39,055 --> 00:35:41,307 he could make anything iconic. 815 00:35:41,349 --> 00:35:42,642 - And this one's, like, the first one too. 816 00:35:42,684 --> 00:35:43,852 So it was much simpler. - Yeah. 817 00:35:43,893 --> 00:35:46,229 This is it. This is the very first one. 818 00:35:46,271 --> 00:35:48,398 * * 819 00:35:48,440 --> 00:35:52,569 - Looking at this, it reminds me 820 00:35:52,610 --> 00:35:55,113 of the birth of the Fireflies. 821 00:35:55,155 --> 00:35:57,240 Like... 822 00:35:57,282 --> 00:36:00,201 to see that as it was happening was-- 823 00:36:04,497 --> 00:36:06,207 I have a memory-- 824 00:36:06,249 --> 00:36:07,584 it was Madison Square Garden-- 825 00:36:07,625 --> 00:36:09,627 and I got to see his entrance. 826 00:36:11,713 --> 00:36:13,298 And... 827 00:36:16,426 --> 00:36:17,969 - I mean, because that's it, right? 828 00:36:18,011 --> 00:36:19,179 Madison Square Garden is the-- 829 00:36:19,220 --> 00:36:21,264 - It's something I'll never forget. 830 00:36:21,306 --> 00:36:25,185 To look out... 831 00:36:25,226 --> 00:36:30,065 and see the sea of lights. 832 00:36:30,106 --> 00:36:34,694 * * 833 00:36:34,736 --> 00:36:38,531 The Fireflies, we had never seen before in WWE. 834 00:36:38,573 --> 00:36:42,577 And I don't know if we'll ever see it again. 835 00:36:44,996 --> 00:36:46,873 [tense music] 836 00:36:46,915 --> 00:36:48,416 - We're here. 837 00:36:49,209 --> 00:36:51,878 It was created by the fans on their own. 838 00:36:51,920 --> 00:36:54,047 You know, they call themselves the Fireflies. 839 00:36:54,089 --> 00:36:55,590 And it became their own thing. 840 00:36:55,632 --> 00:36:56,966 And now it's become a spectacle. 841 00:36:57,008 --> 00:36:59,219 Like, almost a piece of what you pay 842 00:36:59,260 --> 00:37:00,637 to come see at a WWE show 843 00:37:00,679 --> 00:37:02,263 is the Wyatt entrance. 844 00:37:02,305 --> 00:37:07,602 - When you get is not just typical fan participation. 845 00:37:07,644 --> 00:37:10,105 You get this idea that everything this character 846 00:37:10,146 --> 00:37:11,898 is saying is true. 847 00:37:11,940 --> 00:37:14,401 Because every little light that is around 848 00:37:14,442 --> 00:37:15,985 this darkened arena 849 00:37:16,027 --> 00:37:18,780 represents somebody that's buying in 850 00:37:18,822 --> 00:37:22,617 to whatever this malicious character is selling. 851 00:37:22,659 --> 00:37:24,077 - He just found a niche. 852 00:37:24,119 --> 00:37:26,955 And finding a niche is a really hard thing to do, 853 00:37:26,996 --> 00:37:29,749 you know, and make it last for a while. 854 00:37:29,791 --> 00:37:32,210 - The matches, the promos, all of it's 855 00:37:32,252 --> 00:37:36,214 just avenues that we take to do what we're really doing here, 856 00:37:36,256 --> 00:37:37,716 which is connect with the audience. 857 00:37:37,757 --> 00:37:38,883 That's it. 858 00:37:38,925 --> 00:37:40,677 So if you find a way to do that, 859 00:37:40,719 --> 00:37:41,928 that's your ticket. 860 00:37:41,970 --> 00:37:43,388 That's how you climb the ladder. 861 00:37:43,430 --> 00:37:45,515 And he clearly did. 862 00:37:48,560 --> 00:37:52,355 [indistinct chatter] 863 00:37:52,397 --> 00:37:54,941 - When people would approach him, they wanted to meet Bray. 864 00:37:54,983 --> 00:37:58,486 And Windham gave them who he was and he took his time. 865 00:37:58,528 --> 00:37:59,738 - Would you like anything else? 866 00:37:59,779 --> 00:38:01,156 Oh, is this for me? - Yeah. 867 00:38:01,197 --> 00:38:02,323 - Oh, thank you. 868 00:38:02,365 --> 00:38:03,408 - I appreciate everything you do. 869 00:38:03,450 --> 00:38:04,826 - Thank you very much. 870 00:38:04,868 --> 00:38:06,244 - Whatever you have going on in your life, 871 00:38:06,286 --> 00:38:07,579 it matters to me. 872 00:38:07,620 --> 00:38:09,664 Even if we have a five-minute interaction, 873 00:38:09,706 --> 00:38:11,499 whatever you want to tell me is important to me 874 00:38:11,541 --> 00:38:13,293 and I'm going to genuinely listen. 875 00:38:13,335 --> 00:38:14,711 And when I walk away from you, 876 00:38:14,753 --> 00:38:16,296 I'm going to leave you better than I found you. 877 00:38:16,338 --> 00:38:17,756 - [laughs] 878 00:38:26,973 --> 00:38:28,016 - Thank you. 879 00:38:28,058 --> 00:38:31,227 - Ready? 1, 2, 3. 880 00:38:31,269 --> 00:38:33,313 - He's my favorite wrestler of all time. 881 00:38:33,355 --> 00:38:36,024 I'm still shaking. 882 00:38:36,066 --> 00:38:37,108 Love you, Bray. 883 00:38:37,150 --> 00:38:38,526 Don't forget your autograph. 884 00:38:39,361 --> 00:38:40,528 - Everything. You really are. 885 00:38:41,446 --> 00:38:42,697 - He just had it. 886 00:38:42,739 --> 00:38:45,575 And not only it, he had everything else 887 00:38:45,617 --> 00:38:46,618 to go along with that. 888 00:38:46,659 --> 00:38:47,660 - I'm blessed to be here. 889 00:38:47,702 --> 00:38:48,912 - Nice to meet you. 890 00:38:48,953 --> 00:38:49,996 All right, man. 891 00:38:51,748 --> 00:38:53,500 - I don't think I've ever seen anyone 892 00:38:53,541 --> 00:38:56,336 so committed to being a character. 893 00:38:56,378 --> 00:38:59,214 And when he was Bray Wyatt, 894 00:38:59,255 --> 00:39:01,716 I don't know if anyone was more believable. 895 00:39:01,758 --> 00:39:04,010 I don't know if anyone immersed you as much, 896 00:39:04,052 --> 00:39:07,555 if anyone made you believe as much as he did. 897 00:39:07,597 --> 00:39:09,641 He was just one of the most cerebral performers 898 00:39:09,683 --> 00:39:12,310 I think that I'd ever met because his preparation 899 00:39:12,352 --> 00:39:13,353 was so real. 900 00:39:13,395 --> 00:39:15,021 - And action. 901 00:39:15,063 --> 00:39:16,815 - I'm here. 902 00:39:16,856 --> 00:39:19,359 You're here. 903 00:39:19,401 --> 00:39:21,403 We're all here. 904 00:39:22,737 --> 00:39:25,532 - I remember being in the backstage one time. 905 00:39:25,573 --> 00:39:28,952 And as I'm walking past, I see, like, Windham 906 00:39:28,993 --> 00:39:31,496 out of the corner of my eye like this 907 00:39:31,538 --> 00:39:33,915 up to the wall in this little alcove. 908 00:39:33,957 --> 00:39:36,251 And he's just going over his promo and going over his promo 909 00:39:36,292 --> 00:39:38,003 and going over his promo. 910 00:39:38,044 --> 00:39:41,047 And I remember thinking, wow, I wish I could 911 00:39:41,089 --> 00:39:44,676 have that type of focus and that type of dedication 912 00:39:44,718 --> 00:39:48,138 and that type of commitment to the character. 913 00:39:48,179 --> 00:39:51,057 He's such a creative guy. 914 00:39:51,099 --> 00:39:54,602 - Windham's commitment to his craft caught my eye. 915 00:39:54,644 --> 00:39:56,354 I knew this kid was special. 916 00:39:56,396 --> 00:40:00,900 And the time was right for us to meet in the ring. 917 00:40:00,942 --> 00:40:02,861 - When I got that message that I was 918 00:40:02,902 --> 00:40:05,405 going to have the luxury and the privilege of competing 919 00:40:05,447 --> 00:40:07,824 against the Undertaker at WrestleMania, 920 00:40:07,866 --> 00:40:09,826 I was immediately like, oh, my God. 921 00:40:09,868 --> 00:40:14,080 I am Bray Wyatt, the new face of fear! 922 00:40:14,122 --> 00:40:16,708 And then I remember he was in the room. 923 00:40:16,750 --> 00:40:18,918 And I remember him kind of-- 924 00:40:18,960 --> 00:40:20,920 you know, when he does his finger. 925 00:40:20,962 --> 00:40:24,382 [laughs] And he called me in. 926 00:40:24,424 --> 00:40:26,426 And he sat me down real calm. 927 00:40:26,468 --> 00:40:29,471 And he was like, are you ready to do this? 928 00:40:29,512 --> 00:40:34,059 And like, you know, I'm like, yeah. 929 00:40:34,100 --> 00:40:36,311 This is everything I've ever trained for. 930 00:40:36,353 --> 00:40:38,772 Of course I'm ready for this. 931 00:40:38,813 --> 00:40:41,649 - It will be a night forever etched in history 932 00:40:41,691 --> 00:40:45,028 and legends will be born. 933 00:40:45,070 --> 00:40:47,572 - It was huge. 934 00:40:47,614 --> 00:40:49,616 Nobody can touch the Undertaker. 935 00:40:49,657 --> 00:40:52,619 I mean, he had his action figures. 936 00:40:52,660 --> 00:40:54,245 - You think Bray Wyatt might be having 937 00:40:54,287 --> 00:40:55,747 second thoughts right now? 938 00:40:55,789 --> 00:40:57,540 - I enjoyed it because it's like watching 939 00:40:57,582 --> 00:41:02,712 the Freddy versus Jason live or Godzilla versus King Kong. 940 00:41:02,754 --> 00:41:04,756 - Bray Wyatt wanted to dance with the devil? 941 00:41:04,798 --> 00:41:06,508 Welcome to hell. 942 00:41:12,305 --> 00:41:14,974 - That night on the grandest stage, 943 00:41:15,016 --> 00:41:18,603 Windham proved he was a legend in the making. 944 00:41:18,645 --> 00:41:20,271 [dramatic music] 945 00:41:20,313 --> 00:41:23,108 - That, indeed, is the new face of fear. 946 00:41:23,149 --> 00:41:25,694 - That WrestleMania match did more for me 947 00:41:25,735 --> 00:41:28,154 than I could ever put into words. 948 00:41:28,196 --> 00:41:29,948 - Oh, what a WrestleMania moment! 949 00:41:29,989 --> 00:41:32,826 - At that time, I was struggling with my confidence. 950 00:41:32,867 --> 00:41:34,953 And that night, Windham helped restore 951 00:41:34,994 --> 00:41:36,663 not only the Undertaker... 952 00:41:36,705 --> 00:41:40,375 - The Undertaker did it! 953 00:41:40,417 --> 00:41:42,752 - But Mark Calaway, as well. 954 00:41:43,920 --> 00:41:45,255 - He's like your father. 955 00:41:45,296 --> 00:41:47,841 And he is responsible for so much 956 00:41:47,882 --> 00:41:49,676 of the progression of this business. 957 00:41:49,718 --> 00:41:51,011 You know, not just in the ring, 958 00:41:51,052 --> 00:41:53,013 but what he did behind the stages 959 00:41:53,054 --> 00:41:57,809 to kind of show everyone and lead by his example. 960 00:41:57,851 --> 00:42:03,523 - By 2015, Bray Wyatt was box office. 961 00:42:03,565 --> 00:42:07,152 And all the while, he was becoming a trusted mentor 962 00:42:07,193 --> 00:42:08,570 behind the scenes. 963 00:42:10,530 --> 00:42:14,075 - I hadn't been into the business for too long. 964 00:42:14,117 --> 00:42:17,370 The second he laid eyes on me, he pulled me off to the side 965 00:42:17,412 --> 00:42:20,790 and he was like, "I want you to be a part of us. 966 00:42:20,832 --> 00:42:22,792 I don't know how, when, where." 967 00:42:22,834 --> 00:42:27,130 He was like, "But holy cow, look at you." 968 00:42:27,172 --> 00:42:28,882 - What the-- 969 00:42:28,923 --> 00:42:32,427 [cheers and applause] 970 00:42:32,469 --> 00:42:33,845 This guy is a monster. 971 00:42:33,887 --> 00:42:36,514 Look at the size of him. 972 00:42:36,556 --> 00:42:41,811 - From day one, he treated me like I was like a brother. 973 00:42:41,853 --> 00:42:44,356 He taught me all kinds of stuff in the ring. 974 00:42:44,397 --> 00:42:47,484 But honestly, like, I learned more from him about 975 00:42:47,525 --> 00:42:49,486 the real world, I feel like. 976 00:42:49,527 --> 00:42:51,905 You know, him being a third-generation wrestler, 977 00:42:51,946 --> 00:42:53,239 being in this business, 978 00:42:53,281 --> 00:42:54,783 already been on TV, established, 979 00:42:54,824 --> 00:42:57,452 and stuff like that, he'd already navigated 980 00:42:57,494 --> 00:42:59,579 the wolves in the forest. 981 00:42:59,621 --> 00:43:04,542 He was just that guy that just made sure everyone was happy 982 00:43:04,584 --> 00:43:06,753 and everyone was well taken care of 983 00:43:06,795 --> 00:43:09,255 and felt like they belonged. 984 00:43:09,297 --> 00:43:11,841 - I remember coming up and being afraid 985 00:43:11,883 --> 00:43:13,885 and being scared and being away from home. 986 00:43:13,927 --> 00:43:18,139 And the warmth and the humility with which 987 00:43:18,181 --> 00:43:22,310 he talked to you like he was on the same level as you 988 00:43:22,352 --> 00:43:26,231 and with just no pretenses about him. 989 00:43:26,272 --> 00:43:27,649 - I think he really loved people. 990 00:43:27,691 --> 00:43:29,984 And I think he loved positively affecting people. 991 00:43:30,026 --> 00:43:33,446 And he loved seeing people smile or laugh. 992 00:43:33,488 --> 00:43:35,448 - Even when he was like, you know, had been on the road 993 00:43:35,490 --> 00:43:37,951 for two weeks and just wanted to get home and see his kids, 994 00:43:37,992 --> 00:43:40,537 like, he was still always in a good mood. 995 00:43:40,578 --> 00:43:46,001 He was just such a pleasure to be around as a human being. 996 00:43:46,042 --> 00:43:48,169 - Windham's lineage and the fact that the business 997 00:43:48,211 --> 00:43:53,133 is in his blood, not only was he this interesting performer, 998 00:43:53,174 --> 00:43:55,051 but he had a lot of respect for the business. 999 00:43:55,093 --> 00:43:56,469 A lot. 1000 00:43:56,511 --> 00:44:01,141 And he had a lot of camaraderie with the superstars. 1001 00:44:01,182 --> 00:44:05,311 He was really fun to be around and always wanted everybody 1002 00:44:05,353 --> 00:44:07,063 to have a good time. 1003 00:44:07,105 --> 00:44:08,898 - He could light up a room in an instant. 1004 00:44:08,940 --> 00:44:10,984 He was the guy who was a chameleon. 1005 00:44:11,026 --> 00:44:13,987 He was the guy that everybody was best friends with. 1006 00:44:14,029 --> 00:44:16,990 He had a certain draw to him. 1007 00:44:17,032 --> 00:44:19,075 - He just had a charisma, a zest for life. 1008 00:44:19,117 --> 00:44:20,410 Like, you were drawn to him. 1009 00:44:20,452 --> 00:44:21,703 He was a very magnetic person. 1010 00:44:26,708 --> 00:44:30,670 - This is the greatest night in live entertainment. 1011 00:44:30,712 --> 00:44:33,214 - WrestleMania 32. 1012 00:44:33,256 --> 00:44:36,634 Over 100,000 Fireflies lit up the sky 1013 00:44:36,676 --> 00:44:40,221 for Bray Wyatt, a spectacle that was recognized 1014 00:44:40,263 --> 00:44:43,725 by one of the greatest WWE superstars of all time, 1015 00:44:43,767 --> 00:44:47,896 Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. 1016 00:44:47,937 --> 00:44:49,189 - The Rock's had his eye on you 1017 00:44:49,230 --> 00:44:51,232 ever since you came into the WWE. 1018 00:44:51,274 --> 00:44:54,277 You got it all. 1019 00:44:54,319 --> 00:44:56,404 You hold people in the palm of your hands. 1020 00:44:56,446 --> 00:44:58,323 When the lights went out, you came down, 1021 00:44:58,365 --> 00:45:00,575 100,000 people had their phones up. 1022 00:45:00,617 --> 00:45:03,244 100,000 people. 1023 00:45:03,286 --> 00:45:05,372 - He was almost bulletproof at that point. 1024 00:45:05,413 --> 00:45:08,041 I never saw him exhibit any nerves 1025 00:45:08,083 --> 00:45:10,669 as he's lining up for these huge main events. 1026 00:45:10,710 --> 00:45:13,213 You simply couldn't take your eyes off him. 1027 00:45:13,254 --> 00:45:15,882 - After four years on the main roster, 1028 00:45:15,924 --> 00:45:22,097 there was a milestone that Bray Wyatt had yet to achieve. 1029 00:45:22,138 --> 00:45:24,224 - When everything is said and done, 1030 00:45:24,265 --> 00:45:30,522 I will be leaving the new WWE champion! 1031 00:45:30,563 --> 00:45:31,773 - Phenomenal form. 1032 00:45:31,815 --> 00:45:33,692 No, it's blocked by Wyatt. 1033 00:45:33,733 --> 00:45:36,611 Sister Abigail on AJ Styles. 1034 00:45:36,653 --> 00:45:38,571 - One, two, three! 1035 00:45:38,613 --> 00:45:42,534 [cheers and applause] 1036 00:45:42,575 --> 00:45:44,536 - Bray Wyatt has done it. 1037 00:45:44,577 --> 00:45:48,248 In the soul-stealing structure known as the Elimination 1038 00:45:48,289 --> 00:45:52,460 Chamber, Bray Wyatt has won his first WWE Championship. 1039 00:45:54,462 --> 00:45:57,674 - The company had put their stamp on him and said, 1040 00:45:57,716 --> 00:45:59,259 this is going to be our guy. 1041 00:45:59,300 --> 00:46:02,804 I mean, there's not many better feelings 1042 00:46:02,846 --> 00:46:06,975 from a performer's perspective when you finally get that. 1043 00:46:07,017 --> 00:46:10,311 - In this hellacious match, Bray Wyatt rose from the ashes 1044 00:46:10,353 --> 00:46:13,106 to taste the ultimate glory. 1045 00:46:13,148 --> 00:46:17,110 The era of Wyatt is here. 1046 00:46:17,152 --> 00:46:19,446 - He was the first in the family to win, 1047 00:46:19,487 --> 00:46:22,991 which is pretty good considering your grandfather 1048 00:46:23,033 --> 00:46:25,910 did it, your uncles did it, your dad did it. 1049 00:46:25,952 --> 00:46:27,037 And you were the first. 1050 00:46:27,078 --> 00:46:28,913 So that's cool. 1051 00:46:28,955 --> 00:46:31,458 - Out of all of us, that I'm the one that did it-- 1052 00:46:31,499 --> 00:46:34,294 my whole entire life, no matter what accolade, 1053 00:46:34,336 --> 00:46:36,838 what thing I did great, the first paragraph 1054 00:46:36,880 --> 00:46:38,631 was about everyone else in my family 1055 00:46:38,673 --> 00:46:40,800 that was not me and all the things they had done. 1056 00:46:40,842 --> 00:46:44,179 And now it's like, when you look at anything about them, 1057 00:46:44,220 --> 00:46:47,140 it's a whole paragraph about me. 1058 00:46:47,182 --> 00:46:48,933 - When you're working with talent, 1059 00:46:48,975 --> 00:46:50,352 you form a bond with them 1060 00:46:50,393 --> 00:46:52,145 and you know the human being behind it 1061 00:46:52,187 --> 00:46:54,898 and you know how hard they work at it. 1062 00:46:54,939 --> 00:46:59,527 Windham winning a title that had eluded his entire family, 1063 00:46:59,569 --> 00:47:02,072 that was so special. 1064 00:47:02,113 --> 00:47:03,198 - I was there. 1065 00:47:03,239 --> 00:47:05,116 It was huge. I cried. 1066 00:47:05,158 --> 00:47:08,203 It was very, very cool. 1067 00:47:08,244 --> 00:47:10,121 - If I go back and look at the landscape 1068 00:47:10,163 --> 00:47:14,084 of my life and my career here, the ridiculously hard times 1069 00:47:14,125 --> 00:47:16,169 are kind of what strengthened me. 1070 00:47:16,211 --> 00:47:18,338 I knew that sooner or later I'd get to it, 1071 00:47:18,380 --> 00:47:22,008 it was just a matter of how and when. 1072 00:47:22,050 --> 00:47:23,176 - It was huge for him. 1073 00:47:23,218 --> 00:47:24,427 Getting on top was one thing. 1074 00:47:24,469 --> 00:47:26,137 To stay there... 1075 00:47:28,848 --> 00:47:31,893 - Being on top means numerous appearances, 1076 00:47:31,935 --> 00:47:37,732 new responsibilities, and more time away from home. 1077 00:47:37,774 --> 00:47:41,319 - Me and Bray were very close, especially for that stint. 1078 00:47:41,361 --> 00:47:43,863 We were working so closely together 1079 00:47:43,905 --> 00:47:45,448 and we were really telling some good stories 1080 00:47:45,490 --> 00:47:47,534 and having a lot of fun on TV. 1081 00:47:47,575 --> 00:47:49,619 - I feel like we're shooting a [bleep] movie 1082 00:47:49,661 --> 00:47:50,829 for SyFy channel right now. 1083 00:47:50,870 --> 00:47:52,122 [laughter] 1084 00:47:52,163 --> 00:47:53,873 - But being on the road, it's tough. 1085 00:47:53,915 --> 00:47:57,544 When guys start having kids and we get a little older, 1086 00:47:57,585 --> 00:48:00,255 you know, things change. 1087 00:48:00,296 --> 00:48:02,882 It's very hard to balance, especially when 1088 00:48:02,924 --> 00:48:04,300 you're a young man. 1089 00:48:04,342 --> 00:48:08,638 The work and home life balance, if you will. 1090 00:48:08,680 --> 00:48:11,850 It's virtually impossible. 1091 00:48:11,891 --> 00:48:14,060 - Oh! RKO! 1092 00:48:14,102 --> 00:48:16,980 Randy Orton is champion! 1093 00:48:17,022 --> 00:48:19,107 [tense music] 1094 00:48:19,149 --> 00:48:23,403 - It was just after WrestleMania in Orlando. 1095 00:48:23,445 --> 00:48:27,240 Things were not what they used to be. 1096 00:48:27,282 --> 00:48:29,534 He was on the road and traveling 1097 00:48:29,576 --> 00:48:31,578 and I was at home with the kids. 1098 00:48:31,619 --> 00:48:35,832 And we ultimately got divorced. 1099 00:48:35,874 --> 00:48:39,627 Our lives just grew apart. 1100 00:48:39,669 --> 00:48:43,673 - He was absent. 1101 00:48:43,715 --> 00:48:46,009 Mind, body, and soul. 1102 00:48:46,051 --> 00:48:50,096 The divorce in that time of his life was a devastating ordeal. 1103 00:48:50,138 --> 00:48:53,433 [somber music] 1104 00:48:53,475 --> 00:48:58,146 - Windham's frustrations affected his focus. 1105 00:48:58,188 --> 00:48:59,898 - So, guys, remember long at the beginning. 1106 00:48:59,939 --> 00:49:01,107 - Just [bleep]--let's go. 1107 00:49:01,149 --> 00:49:03,318 - Yep. In five. 1108 00:49:03,360 --> 00:49:06,571 - Windham was very emotionally attached to his work. 1109 00:49:06,613 --> 00:49:09,449 When things went great, they were great. 1110 00:49:09,491 --> 00:49:12,452 And when they went not so great and they were frustrating, 1111 00:49:12,494 --> 00:49:15,789 they were exaggeratedly frustrated. 1112 00:49:15,830 --> 00:49:17,999 - You going to cut me? 1113 00:49:18,041 --> 00:49:21,628 - Sometimes the hardest thing to talk him into was, OK, yeah, 1114 00:49:21,670 --> 00:49:23,880 but how do we make that work in the ring? 1115 00:49:23,922 --> 00:49:26,007 I get it. That shit is crazy. 1116 00:49:26,049 --> 00:49:27,342 It seems genius. 1117 00:49:27,384 --> 00:49:29,761 It's like, man, I'm intrigued by that. 1118 00:49:29,803 --> 00:49:32,305 OK. But now, ding ding. 1119 00:49:32,347 --> 00:49:34,265 And that was sometimes the trick. 1120 00:49:34,307 --> 00:49:37,394 He was so creative and so outside the box 1121 00:49:37,435 --> 00:49:40,230 that pulling it back into a particular genre 1122 00:49:40,271 --> 00:49:42,774 was hard for him to do. 1123 00:49:42,816 --> 00:49:45,193 - While Windham's brother Taylor was finding success 1124 00:49:45,235 --> 00:49:50,615 as a WWE tag team champion, Bray's on-screen Wyatt family 1125 00:49:50,657 --> 00:49:54,494 was no more. 1126 00:49:54,536 --> 00:49:56,538 - Harper and Rowan had branched off 1127 00:49:56,579 --> 00:49:57,872 and become a tag team on their own 1128 00:49:57,914 --> 00:49:59,874 called The Bludgeon Brothers. 1129 00:49:59,916 --> 00:50:01,793 Braun Strowman had become 1130 00:50:01,835 --> 00:50:04,754 a bona fide main-event superstar. 1131 00:50:04,796 --> 00:50:07,716 The Bray Wyatt character kind of found himself 1132 00:50:07,757 --> 00:50:10,802 in a neutral position. 1133 00:50:10,844 --> 00:50:14,180 He was on TV, but he wasn't really prominently featured. 1134 00:50:18,643 --> 00:50:20,437 - When I was working with Harper and Rowan 1135 00:50:20,478 --> 00:50:22,397 doing the Bludgeon Brothers stuff, 1136 00:50:22,439 --> 00:50:24,816 he'd come and check it out and give the classic, like, 1137 00:50:24,858 --> 00:50:26,526 oh, baby. 1138 00:50:26,568 --> 00:50:28,361 Oh, you guys look good. Sexy. 1139 00:50:28,403 --> 00:50:30,363 You know, cracking jokes. 1140 00:50:30,405 --> 00:50:33,199 But you'd see every time he'd see something artistic 1141 00:50:33,241 --> 00:50:35,035 and creative--like, we'd make these things 1142 00:50:35,076 --> 00:50:36,369 for Harper and Rowan-- 1143 00:50:36,411 --> 00:50:38,288 he'd be like, oh, I want that. 1144 00:50:38,329 --> 00:50:39,622 What can I do? 1145 00:50:39,664 --> 00:50:40,749 And you'd see the gears start turning. 1146 00:50:40,790 --> 00:50:42,167 - And that's the thing with Windham. 1147 00:50:42,208 --> 00:50:44,377 And like you said, this was around 2018. 1148 00:50:44,419 --> 00:50:47,088 And behind the scenes, there was a lot 1149 00:50:47,130 --> 00:50:48,548 going on in Windham's life. 1150 00:50:48,590 --> 00:50:51,468 And a normal person, with everything 1151 00:50:51,509 --> 00:50:54,596 that he was dealing with, could have let everything go 1152 00:50:54,637 --> 00:50:56,639 and kind of lost the grip of it all. 1153 00:50:56,681 --> 00:51:01,269 But he's always been able to find inspiration 1154 00:51:01,311 --> 00:51:04,147 in places I don't think anybody else could. 1155 00:51:05,857 --> 00:51:08,443 - As Windham dealt with the stress, 1156 00:51:08,485 --> 00:51:10,987 he leaned on his friends. 1157 00:51:11,780 --> 00:51:15,241 - We were together four or five days a week. 1158 00:51:15,283 --> 00:51:16,326 We cried together. 1159 00:51:16,368 --> 00:51:17,410 We laughed together. 1160 00:51:17,452 --> 00:51:19,913 We did everything together. 1161 00:51:19,954 --> 00:51:22,207 The WWE, it's such a family. 1162 00:51:22,248 --> 00:51:23,416 It really is. 1163 00:51:23,458 --> 00:51:24,709 Like, we're all together so much. 1164 00:51:24,751 --> 00:51:26,336 We're all away from our families and stuff 1165 00:51:26,378 --> 00:51:29,172 like that-- our real blood families. 1166 00:51:29,214 --> 00:51:31,299 We all have a really cool relationship. 1167 00:51:34,302 --> 00:51:35,679 - My name is JoJo. 1168 00:51:35,720 --> 00:51:39,474 And originally, I started off as a wrestler. 1169 00:51:39,516 --> 00:51:44,604 And then I transitioned into a role of the ring announcer. 1170 00:51:44,646 --> 00:51:47,357 The following No Holds Barred match 1171 00:51:47,399 --> 00:51:51,319 will begin in Bray Wyatt's House of Horrors. 1172 00:51:51,361 --> 00:51:53,321 We respected each other's work. 1173 00:51:53,363 --> 00:51:57,283 And we slowly became really, really great friends 1174 00:51:57,325 --> 00:51:59,911 through that time. 1175 00:51:59,953 --> 00:52:05,000 And so when we were both able to, we started dating. 1176 00:52:05,041 --> 00:52:08,294 - I lived with JoJo when I was in "NXT." 1177 00:52:08,336 --> 00:52:12,132 I never pictured JoJo and Windham together. 1178 00:52:12,173 --> 00:52:13,466 Not for a single second. 1179 00:52:13,508 --> 00:52:15,593 Like, it never dawned on me. 1180 00:52:15,635 --> 00:52:18,888 But then you see them together and you're like, oh, yeah. 1181 00:52:18,930 --> 00:52:20,265 Oh, that makes sense. 1182 00:52:20,306 --> 00:52:24,060 They're just these two beautiful souls. 1183 00:52:24,102 --> 00:52:27,439 - JoJo made Windham happy, and that's all 1184 00:52:27,480 --> 00:52:29,816 you can ask for is to be happy in this world, 1185 00:52:29,858 --> 00:52:31,526 you know? 1186 00:52:31,568 --> 00:52:34,821 - It's just that old saying, you can't fight fate. 1187 00:52:34,863 --> 00:52:37,282 And I think fate was just-- it just took a little while 1188 00:52:37,323 --> 00:52:38,825 for them to find each other. 1189 00:52:38,867 --> 00:52:43,830 - He loved her so much and she meant the world to him. 1190 00:52:43,872 --> 00:52:46,791 [light guitar music] 1191 00:52:46,833 --> 00:52:48,001 * * 1192 00:52:48,043 --> 00:52:51,671 - In 2019, Windham and JoJo welcomed 1193 00:52:51,713 --> 00:52:57,469 their first child, a son, Knash. 1194 00:52:57,510 --> 00:52:59,095 - When we found out it was a boy-- 1195 00:52:59,137 --> 00:53:01,681 [laughs] He was so happy. 1196 00:53:01,723 --> 00:53:03,808 He goes, "I didn't think I could have boys. 1197 00:53:03,850 --> 00:53:07,228 I thought I was destined for girls my whole life." 1198 00:53:07,270 --> 00:53:11,858 - Knash boy is the sweetest little human 1199 00:53:11,900 --> 00:53:13,109 that I've ever met. 1200 00:53:13,151 --> 00:53:14,486 He looks more like JoJo, 1201 00:53:14,527 --> 00:53:17,489 but he has Windham's personality. 1202 00:53:17,530 --> 00:53:22,660 - Two years later, they would welcome a little girl, Hyrie. 1203 00:53:22,702 --> 00:53:23,953 - We got the yin and yang. 1204 00:53:23,995 --> 00:53:26,706 We've got the one that's Windham, the firstborn. 1205 00:53:26,748 --> 00:53:30,835 And then the second one is just full of fire. 1206 00:53:30,877 --> 00:53:32,921 - One of the things that I loved the most about Windham 1207 00:53:32,962 --> 00:53:38,259 in general was how wonderful a father he always was. 1208 00:53:38,301 --> 00:53:39,928 - Just going over to their house, 1209 00:53:39,969 --> 00:53:42,639 it was like a scene out of a movie. 1210 00:53:42,681 --> 00:53:46,434 Just loud and happy always. 1211 00:53:48,770 --> 00:53:52,107 - She changed his life for the better. 1212 00:53:52,148 --> 00:53:55,235 all: * Happy birthday to you * 1213 00:53:55,276 --> 00:53:56,361 - Yay! 1214 00:53:56,403 --> 00:53:57,529 Time to blow this out. 1215 00:53:57,570 --> 00:53:58,780 - Blow it out. - Make a wish. 1216 00:53:58,822 --> 00:54:01,783 [laughter] 1217 00:54:03,952 --> 00:54:06,663 - Yay! 1218 00:54:06,705 --> 00:54:09,874 - Windham's happiness inspired his creative side. 1219 00:54:09,916 --> 00:54:13,628 By early 2019, the idea for a new character 1220 00:54:13,670 --> 00:54:16,423 started to develop. 1221 00:54:16,464 --> 00:54:19,926 - He always joked about how every time he's had a child, 1222 00:54:19,968 --> 00:54:24,014 it boosted his confidence to come back even harder. 1223 00:54:24,055 --> 00:54:25,598 So we would be at home. 1224 00:54:25,640 --> 00:54:29,019 And we're laying in bed and he's like, 1225 00:54:29,060 --> 00:54:31,062 "So I have this idea." 1226 00:54:34,941 --> 00:54:39,612 - Windham's journey took him to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 1227 00:54:39,654 --> 00:54:41,281 - For years, Windham was always like, 1228 00:54:41,322 --> 00:54:42,657 "Hey, we got to do something. 1229 00:54:42,699 --> 00:54:43,950 Let's do something. Let's do something." 1230 00:54:43,992 --> 00:54:45,660 And I'm like, well, you have my number. 1231 00:54:45,702 --> 00:54:46,911 Call me. 1232 00:54:46,953 --> 00:54:48,455 And then out of the blue at, like, 2:00 AM, 1233 00:54:48,496 --> 00:54:50,206 I finally got the call from Windham, 1234 00:54:50,248 --> 00:54:52,125 in classic Windham fashion. 1235 00:54:52,167 --> 00:54:55,628 And he was like, hey, man, I've been sent home. 1236 00:54:55,670 --> 00:54:57,422 Creative has nothing for me. 1237 00:54:57,464 --> 00:54:58,923 I know what that means. 1238 00:54:58,965 --> 00:55:02,052 I got to do something drastic, and I need your help. 1239 00:55:02,093 --> 00:55:04,554 * * 1240 00:55:08,099 --> 00:55:11,019 [tense music] 1241 00:55:11,061 --> 00:55:13,688 * * 1242 00:55:17,150 --> 00:55:19,944 - In the spring of 2019, 1243 00:55:19,986 --> 00:55:23,239 Windham had an idea for a new character. 1244 00:55:23,281 --> 00:55:25,992 - I've always been a huge fan of, like, horror movies. 1245 00:55:26,034 --> 00:55:27,619 So naturally, the progression was-- 1246 00:55:27,660 --> 00:55:29,788 you know, when I started watching wrestling, 1247 00:55:29,829 --> 00:55:32,290 it was the horror characters that always caught my eye. 1248 00:55:32,332 --> 00:55:34,584 One of my earliest memories was Papa Shango 1249 00:55:34,626 --> 00:55:36,586 and The Ultimate Warrior. 1250 00:55:36,628 --> 00:55:37,962 - Well, take a look at Papa Shango's face. 1251 00:55:38,004 --> 00:55:38,797 He's in a trance. 1252 00:55:38,838 --> 00:55:40,382 He's in another world. 1253 00:55:40,423 --> 00:55:44,135 And the curse is affecting The Ultimate Warrior. 1254 00:55:44,177 --> 00:55:45,679 - That type of stuff is the stuff 1255 00:55:45,720 --> 00:55:47,555 that really sticks in my head, you know? 1256 00:55:47,597 --> 00:55:49,849 I think that wrestling needs 1257 00:55:49,891 --> 00:55:53,561 that kind of dark entity in it. 1258 00:55:53,603 --> 00:55:55,647 - When we were children, we weren't hearing 1259 00:55:55,689 --> 00:55:58,274 the stereotypical bedtime stories. 1260 00:55:58,316 --> 00:56:00,819 We were hearing Stephen King. 1261 00:56:00,860 --> 00:56:03,113 - They needed their daily update of where my book was 1262 00:56:03,154 --> 00:56:04,364 and what it was doing. 1263 00:56:04,406 --> 00:56:06,324 And they would both come to the table 1264 00:56:06,366 --> 00:56:11,496 with these, like, characters all with a Stephen King basis. 1265 00:56:11,538 --> 00:56:15,333 They have that influence. 1266 00:56:15,375 --> 00:56:16,835 I didn't mean to do it, but I did. 1267 00:56:16,876 --> 00:56:18,128 [laughs] 1268 00:56:19,754 --> 00:56:22,382 - We both were huge fans of horror movies 1269 00:56:22,424 --> 00:56:25,885 and the contrast between good and evil. 1270 00:56:25,927 --> 00:56:29,889 But not only that, to make what you would think to be good 1271 00:56:29,931 --> 00:56:33,643 seem evil and what you'd think to be evil seem good. 1272 00:56:33,685 --> 00:56:37,147 * * 1273 00:56:37,188 --> 00:56:38,231 - So yeah. 1274 00:56:38,273 --> 00:56:40,608 There's a bunch of our old concept. 1275 00:56:40,650 --> 00:56:42,235 Good thing I'm a hoarder. 1276 00:56:42,277 --> 00:56:43,361 [laughter] 1277 00:56:43,403 --> 00:56:44,571 So yeah, man. 1278 00:56:44,612 --> 00:56:45,905 Again, working with your brother is 1279 00:56:45,947 --> 00:56:47,741 the funnest time I've ever had 1280 00:56:47,782 --> 00:56:49,743 professionally and personally. 1281 00:56:49,784 --> 00:56:51,494 I remember he just called and he was like, yeah, 1282 00:56:51,536 --> 00:56:53,079 I want to come up with this idea. 1283 00:56:53,121 --> 00:56:54,330 I want this mask. 1284 00:56:54,372 --> 00:56:55,582 - We both loved wrestling, 1285 00:56:55,623 --> 00:56:58,251 but I was The Rock and Stone Cold, 1286 00:56:58,293 --> 00:57:01,338 and he was Kane and Undertaker and Papa Shango. 1287 00:57:01,379 --> 00:57:02,630 You know, anything weird. 1288 00:57:02,672 --> 00:57:06,343 He was always attracted to that, I think 1289 00:57:06,384 --> 00:57:09,220 because if you look at him, he looks like a monster. 1290 00:57:09,262 --> 00:57:11,973 But he had the biggest and best heart. 1291 00:57:12,015 --> 00:57:13,850 - I'm obviously paraphrasing, but I remember 1292 00:57:13,892 --> 00:57:16,436 he said one time that the only way to judge darkness 1293 00:57:16,478 --> 00:57:18,271 is through the absence of light. 1294 00:57:18,313 --> 00:57:20,899 So you know, just doing that was like this beautiful thing. 1295 00:57:20,940 --> 00:57:23,860 Then he's like, no, let's show the world if you use something 1296 00:57:23,902 --> 00:57:26,154 that's dark, you can show the world how beautiful 1297 00:57:26,196 --> 00:57:27,405 it is by contrast. 1298 00:57:27,447 --> 00:57:29,991 [indistinct chatter] 1299 00:57:34,788 --> 00:57:35,997 - Are we ready, Bray? 1300 00:57:36,039 --> 00:57:37,123 - I'm ready. 1301 00:57:37,165 --> 00:57:38,375 - All right. Let's do it. 1302 00:57:38,416 --> 00:57:43,004 - This new character needed a new world. 1303 00:57:43,046 --> 00:57:44,798 - And action. 1304 00:57:44,839 --> 00:57:48,635 - This is the Firefly Fun House. 1305 00:57:48,677 --> 00:57:49,928 [dramatic music] 1306 00:57:49,969 --> 00:57:51,137 - I had the opportunity to work 1307 00:57:51,179 --> 00:57:54,140 on the first Firefly Fun Houses. 1308 00:57:54,182 --> 00:57:59,104 The Firefly Fun House only existed in Bray's mind. 1309 00:57:59,145 --> 00:58:00,689 It was not a real place. 1310 00:58:00,730 --> 00:58:04,109 He would allow us inside that head. 1311 00:58:04,150 --> 00:58:07,821 And you can accept it because it was fantasy. 1312 00:58:07,862 --> 00:58:09,948 When you walk in, you want to just say, really. 1313 00:58:09,989 --> 00:58:10,949 - Really. 1314 00:58:10,990 --> 00:58:12,200 - Then you'll go, really. - Really. 1315 00:58:12,242 --> 00:58:13,493 - And then look back at the camera. 1316 00:58:13,535 --> 00:58:15,120 [soft music] 1317 00:58:15,161 --> 00:58:17,247 - Shooting the Fun House was unlike anything 1318 00:58:17,288 --> 00:58:18,540 WWE has done before. 1319 00:58:18,581 --> 00:58:19,791 And that was always our intention 1320 00:58:19,833 --> 00:58:21,001 was to do something completely different. 1321 00:58:21,042 --> 00:58:22,335 And in wrestling, that's tough because 1322 00:58:22,377 --> 00:58:23,920 everybody's done everything at some point. 1323 00:58:23,962 --> 00:58:24,879 - I'm trying to make it different. 1324 00:58:24,921 --> 00:58:26,089 - Yeah. Follow the leader. 1325 00:58:26,131 --> 00:58:27,924 Follow the leader. Follow the leader. 1326 00:58:27,966 --> 00:58:30,760 - I was blown away by how talented he was. 1327 00:58:30,802 --> 00:58:35,098 - See you later! Bye! [laughs] 1328 00:58:35,140 --> 00:58:37,142 Can I see what that looks like real quick? 1329 00:58:37,183 --> 00:58:41,771 - Windham's brain is just like a tornado of ideas. 1330 00:58:41,813 --> 00:58:44,315 - Could it be warped somehow? 1331 00:58:44,357 --> 00:58:46,484 - He has so many different things he wants to do, 1332 00:58:46,526 --> 00:58:47,902 wants to say. 1333 00:58:47,944 --> 00:58:49,946 And it's just so many different things at once 1334 00:58:49,988 --> 00:58:52,699 that the hard part is kind of containing it. 1335 00:58:52,741 --> 00:58:54,868 - What about if I deliver the line before 1336 00:58:54,909 --> 00:58:56,578 while I'm standing and then the next thing is 1337 00:58:56,619 --> 00:58:58,163 the music's playing and it's just 1338 00:58:58,204 --> 00:59:00,290 da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da at the end? 1339 00:59:00,331 --> 00:59:04,169 - All you have to do is... - Let me in. 1340 00:59:04,210 --> 00:59:06,629 - His range of interests were so wide. 1341 00:59:06,671 --> 00:59:08,298 He knew something about everything 1342 00:59:08,340 --> 00:59:09,924 and he drew inspiration from everything. 1343 00:59:09,966 --> 00:59:11,426 - Oh. 1344 00:59:11,468 --> 00:59:13,887 And I want to introduce you to some very special friends 1345 00:59:13,928 --> 00:59:15,847 that I've met along the way. 1346 00:59:17,223 --> 00:59:19,434 - A key component of Windham's vision 1347 00:59:19,476 --> 00:59:23,563 included multiple puppets that would enhance his character. 1348 00:59:23,605 --> 00:59:26,858 This is my friend Huskus the Pig Boy. 1349 00:59:26,900 --> 00:59:29,361 - Join us. Join us. 1350 00:59:29,402 --> 00:59:32,614 - Huskus was obviously a representation of Bray 1351 00:59:32,655 --> 00:59:35,909 and the stuff that he'd gone through with his weight. 1352 00:59:35,950 --> 00:59:39,913 The Ramblin' Rabbit was sort of the personification 1353 00:59:39,954 --> 00:59:41,956 of people's opinion of Bray-- of him rambling 1354 00:59:41,998 --> 00:59:44,000 too much in his promos. 1355 00:59:44,042 --> 00:59:45,627 - Oh, OK. 1356 00:59:45,669 --> 00:59:46,961 Yeah. 1357 00:59:47,003 --> 00:59:49,297 - Mercy was a little bit of an homage 1358 00:59:49,339 --> 00:59:51,383 to Waylon Mercy, the character that 1359 00:59:51,424 --> 00:59:54,094 Bray drew so much influence from. 1360 00:59:54,135 --> 00:59:56,554 Abby was Sister Abigail, an imaginary sister 1361 00:59:56,596 --> 00:59:59,099 of Bray Wyatt in his story. 1362 00:59:59,140 --> 01:00:01,267 - After several weeks of preparation, 1363 01:00:01,309 --> 01:00:04,854 the Firefly Fun House premiered in prime time 1364 01:00:04,896 --> 01:00:07,482 on Monday Night Raw. 1365 01:00:07,524 --> 01:00:10,819 [cheers and applause] 1366 01:00:10,860 --> 01:00:12,987 - Did you miss me? 1367 01:00:13,029 --> 01:00:17,033 Oh, how I have missed you. 1368 01:00:17,075 --> 01:00:18,910 - When I first saw the Firefly Fun House, 1369 01:00:18,952 --> 01:00:21,913 I remember texting one of the writers saying, 1370 01:00:21,955 --> 01:00:23,206 this is brilliant. 1371 01:00:23,248 --> 01:00:25,417 - Hi. 1372 01:00:25,458 --> 01:00:27,669 Did you enjoy my little secret? 1373 01:00:27,711 --> 01:00:29,963 - Really enjoyed the Pee-wee's Playhouse 1374 01:00:30,005 --> 01:00:33,174 take of the Firefly Fun House. 1375 01:00:33,216 --> 01:00:36,261 - Sociopath is the word of the day. 1376 01:00:36,302 --> 01:00:38,763 Sociopath. 1377 01:00:38,805 --> 01:00:40,807 - He thought of all that stuff himself. 1378 01:00:40,849 --> 01:00:44,394 Puts himself in the genius category. 1379 01:00:44,436 --> 01:00:46,104 - Let me in. 1380 01:00:46,146 --> 01:00:49,733 - It was like Mister Rogers meets Tales from the Crypt. 1381 01:00:52,110 --> 01:00:55,071 - Whenever there was a Firefly Fun House going on, 1382 01:00:55,113 --> 01:00:58,033 on a screen in the back as the show is going, 1383 01:00:58,074 --> 01:01:01,161 there would always be a sellout at one of those monitors 1384 01:01:01,202 --> 01:01:04,372 to see what Bray was going to do in that Fun House that week. 1385 01:01:04,414 --> 01:01:08,251 - Today, I have something super serious to talk to you about. 1386 01:01:13,757 --> 01:01:17,218 Exercise! 1387 01:01:17,260 --> 01:01:19,846 - For him to be able to pivot and all of a sudden go, 1388 01:01:19,888 --> 01:01:20,972 hi, welcome to the Fun House. 1389 01:01:21,014 --> 01:01:22,349 We're going to work out. 1390 01:01:22,390 --> 01:01:26,311 He had the charisma that so many guys don't have. 1391 01:01:26,353 --> 01:01:29,189 - I really appreciated the Firefly Fun House 1392 01:01:29,230 --> 01:01:31,608 because it was the public eye's first opportunity 1393 01:01:31,649 --> 01:01:33,234 to see Windham be silly. 1394 01:01:33,276 --> 01:01:34,444 - Yowie-wowie! 1395 01:01:34,486 --> 01:01:36,571 You found me. 1396 01:01:36,613 --> 01:01:39,616 - Knowing Windham, you knew it was going to go dark. 1397 01:01:39,657 --> 01:01:41,701 - I will always light the way. 1398 01:01:41,743 --> 01:01:46,539 And all you have to do is let me in. 1399 01:01:46,581 --> 01:01:48,750 - And it was going to be scary. 1400 01:01:48,792 --> 01:01:51,544 - After months of hosting the bizarre program, 1401 01:01:51,586 --> 01:01:55,465 in the summer of 2019, Windham would introduce 1402 01:01:55,507 --> 01:01:58,468 the WWE Universe to his darker side. 1403 01:01:58,510 --> 01:02:00,303 - As tight as it can go. 1404 01:02:00,345 --> 01:02:01,638 That's perfect. 1405 01:02:01,680 --> 01:02:03,848 Let's go make some nightmares. 1406 01:02:03,890 --> 01:02:05,266 - The Fiend. 1407 01:02:05,308 --> 01:02:07,268 [dramatic music] 1408 01:02:07,310 --> 01:02:09,896 - Yowie-wowie! 1409 01:02:09,938 --> 01:02:13,983 - It was a brand-new character that lived in Bray's head. 1410 01:02:14,025 --> 01:02:17,737 However, it could take over Bray's body. 1411 01:02:17,779 --> 01:02:20,240 And then The Fiend became real. 1412 01:02:20,281 --> 01:02:22,951 - The dichotomy of this sadistic character 1413 01:02:22,992 --> 01:02:26,037 in the children's setup, it was so bizarre, 1414 01:02:26,079 --> 01:02:27,580 and it felt wrong. 1415 01:02:27,622 --> 01:02:29,416 But it was one of those things you couldn't look away from. 1416 01:02:30,583 --> 01:02:33,128 - Coming up next here at SummerSlam, 1417 01:02:33,169 --> 01:02:35,880 it is the in-ring debut of The Fiend. 1418 01:02:35,922 --> 01:02:38,133 It's Finn Bálor versus Bray Wyatt, 1419 01:02:38,174 --> 01:02:41,136 who went through this bizarre transformation 1420 01:02:41,177 --> 01:02:45,807 in a place called the Firefly Fun House. 1421 01:02:45,849 --> 01:02:47,976 - He showed up on the day of SummerSlam, 1422 01:02:48,018 --> 01:02:50,603 and I seen what the character was. 1423 01:02:50,645 --> 01:02:51,855 I just said, oh, wow. 1424 01:02:51,896 --> 01:02:53,440 This is cool. 1425 01:02:53,481 --> 01:02:55,316 - We're seeing so many different forms 1426 01:02:55,358 --> 01:02:57,944 of intimidation from The Fiend. 1427 01:02:57,986 --> 01:03:00,697 - This is just disturbing. 1428 01:03:00,739 --> 01:03:02,615 - The thing about professional wrestling 1429 01:03:02,657 --> 01:03:04,868 is it's one of the only forms of entertainment 1430 01:03:04,909 --> 01:03:08,455 where you have to do it live in front of an audience 1431 01:03:08,496 --> 01:03:11,374 with no CGI, no camera effects. 1432 01:03:11,416 --> 01:03:14,210 So when The Fiend shows up in the arena 1433 01:03:14,252 --> 01:03:17,797 and he's literally a horror movie monster, 1434 01:03:17,839 --> 01:03:20,592 I was like, this is unbelievable. 1435 01:03:20,633 --> 01:03:21,551 - I love it. 1436 01:03:22,552 --> 01:03:23,511 - That's cool. 1437 01:03:24,888 --> 01:03:25,930 - Awesome. 1438 01:03:25,972 --> 01:03:26,973 Happy for you, brother. 1439 01:03:27,015 --> 01:03:28,641 [tense music] 1440 01:03:28,683 --> 01:03:32,771 - The Fiend is my favorite character 1441 01:03:32,812 --> 01:03:34,522 in WWE, of all time. 1442 01:03:34,564 --> 01:03:39,778 Someone had finally pulled off a split-personality character. 1443 01:03:39,819 --> 01:03:41,363 - I was like, you genius. 1444 01:03:41,404 --> 01:03:43,740 You just printed $10 million worth of merchandise overnight. 1445 01:03:43,782 --> 01:03:45,200 [laughs] 1446 01:03:45,241 --> 01:03:49,329 - I'm really excited to see The Fiend, Bray Wyatt. 1447 01:03:49,371 --> 01:03:51,831 - Seeing all these kids wearing the mask, 1448 01:03:51,873 --> 01:03:55,251 just the way it captivated the audience, it was awesome. 1449 01:03:56,461 --> 01:03:58,838 - Within months, The Fiend's popularity 1450 01:03:58,880 --> 01:04:02,842 skyrocketed and had him on a collision course 1451 01:04:02,884 --> 01:04:06,846 with an old foe, John Cena. 1452 01:04:06,888 --> 01:04:09,265 [cheers and applause] 1453 01:04:10,725 --> 01:04:13,061 - WrestleMania was scheduled to take place 1454 01:04:13,103 --> 01:04:15,647 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa 1455 01:04:15,689 --> 01:04:17,232 where the Buccaneers play. 1456 01:04:17,273 --> 01:04:21,111 Due to COVID, we were not able to have the audience 1457 01:04:21,152 --> 01:04:23,530 and be able to have the show that we wanted to have 1458 01:04:23,571 --> 01:04:24,823 in front of an audience. 1459 01:04:24,864 --> 01:04:27,742 So we had to take it to the Performance Center, 1460 01:04:27,784 --> 01:04:30,370 where we had been doing TV. 1461 01:04:30,412 --> 01:04:34,290 And The Fiend did not lend itself 1462 01:04:34,332 --> 01:04:37,043 to be in an empty arena. 1463 01:04:37,085 --> 01:04:41,673 And we were looking for matches that were unique. 1464 01:04:41,715 --> 01:04:43,591 We just got to thinking one day and said, 1465 01:04:43,633 --> 01:04:46,594 why don't we have a Firefly Fun House match? 1466 01:04:46,636 --> 01:04:50,223 - The story of the Firefly Fun House goes like this. 1467 01:04:50,265 --> 01:04:52,183 We are sitting in a conference table 1468 01:04:52,225 --> 01:04:53,518 at the NXT Performance Center. 1469 01:04:53,560 --> 01:04:54,978 Someone opens the door and says, 1470 01:04:55,020 --> 01:04:57,063 "You have a Firefly Fun House match 1471 01:04:57,105 --> 01:04:59,190 at WrestleMania with Bray Wyatt." 1472 01:04:59,232 --> 01:05:01,151 And I said, well, what's a Firefly Fun House match? 1473 01:05:01,192 --> 01:05:02,152 They said, "Well, we don't know." 1474 01:05:02,193 --> 01:05:03,695 I said, [bleep] great. 1475 01:05:06,239 --> 01:05:09,534 This is going to be somethin'. 1476 01:05:11,077 --> 01:05:13,038 I was like, OK, what story can we tell? 1477 01:05:13,079 --> 01:05:14,456 - There's a world that exists 1478 01:05:14,497 --> 01:05:16,583 beyond the realm of our comprehension. 1479 01:05:16,624 --> 01:05:19,919 - Like, yo, we can make this a meta journey. 1480 01:05:19,961 --> 01:05:21,254 So--and the lighting stays the same. 1481 01:05:21,296 --> 01:05:22,505 And yeah. - Boom. Boom. 1482 01:05:22,547 --> 01:05:24,966 So basically, this is in two of the scenes. 1483 01:05:25,008 --> 01:05:26,968 That's in another scene. That's a scene. 1484 01:05:27,010 --> 01:05:28,595 And then there's a scene over there. 1485 01:05:28,636 --> 01:05:31,681 - If all I got is rapping, I'll use it to my advantage, 1486 01:05:31,723 --> 01:05:33,516 'cause I'm like Husky Harris. 1487 01:05:33,558 --> 01:05:35,435 It's a weight that I can manage. 1488 01:05:35,477 --> 01:05:37,937 Windham immediately channeled right in, and he got it. 1489 01:05:37,979 --> 01:05:40,106 And he was like, and then we do this, and then we do this. 1490 01:05:40,148 --> 01:05:42,984 - It's time to rewrite my own story. 1491 01:05:43,026 --> 01:05:44,736 - No idea was off-limits. 1492 01:05:44,778 --> 01:05:46,196 We start working out. 1493 01:05:46,237 --> 01:05:47,530 And I just start working out, 1494 01:05:47,572 --> 01:05:49,115 and we have to stay there absurdly long. 1495 01:05:49,157 --> 01:05:50,700 - Yeah. - [laughs] 1496 01:05:50,742 --> 01:05:52,118 Let me tell you something. 1497 01:05:52,160 --> 01:05:54,704 Any idea that I relayed to him, 1498 01:05:54,746 --> 01:05:56,498 he could make it better. 1499 01:05:56,539 --> 01:05:59,000 And any idea that he brought to me, I was willing to do. 1500 01:05:59,042 --> 01:06:00,585 - I need a printout of that. 1501 01:06:00,627 --> 01:06:04,005 And I think yeah, everybody should have it just 1502 01:06:04,047 --> 01:06:05,590 so you know where I'm coming from. 1503 01:06:05,632 --> 01:06:09,803 Give it up for John Cena! 1504 01:06:09,844 --> 01:06:11,805 - Watching it back, you'd think we'd had 1505 01:06:11,846 --> 01:06:13,223 six months to prepare for it. 1506 01:06:13,264 --> 01:06:15,350 But in reality, it was, like, two days. 1507 01:06:15,392 --> 01:06:17,727 Somehow, it got pulled off. 1508 01:06:17,769 --> 01:06:19,854 - This is going to be spooky. 1509 01:06:19,896 --> 01:06:24,067 - You got to see all of these different characters 1510 01:06:24,109 --> 01:06:26,986 come to life. 1511 01:06:27,028 --> 01:06:30,532 - It's like a mini-movie. 1512 01:06:30,573 --> 01:06:32,075 - It used to just be challenging enough 1513 01:06:32,117 --> 01:06:33,785 to do something good. 1514 01:06:33,827 --> 01:06:34,994 That's hard. 1515 01:06:35,036 --> 01:06:36,329 But now in the age of content, 1516 01:06:36,371 --> 01:06:38,832 what's harder is to do something memorable. 1517 01:06:38,873 --> 01:06:40,417 So full credit. 1518 01:06:40,458 --> 01:06:42,335 Because we're still talking about it, and we still 1519 01:06:42,377 --> 01:06:45,130 will be talking about it for years to come. 1520 01:06:48,633 --> 01:06:51,428 - Following the success of that match, 1521 01:06:51,469 --> 01:06:55,598 fans were introduced to a new Fun House character. 1522 01:06:55,640 --> 01:06:58,184 - He had all these ideas for me and different ways 1523 01:06:58,226 --> 01:07:00,020 that the character could go. 1524 01:07:00,061 --> 01:07:04,190 Let him in. 1525 01:07:04,232 --> 01:07:07,235 He always had these off-the-wall ideas 1526 01:07:07,277 --> 01:07:08,611 that once he explained them, 1527 01:07:08,653 --> 01:07:11,448 you're like, that's freaking genius. 1528 01:07:11,489 --> 01:07:13,408 Do you like my playground? 1529 01:07:13,450 --> 01:07:16,119 [laughs] 1530 01:07:16,161 --> 01:07:18,705 He built this for me. 1531 01:07:18,747 --> 01:07:22,334 He taught me to open my mind more creatively 1532 01:07:22,375 --> 01:07:24,461 and to step my game up. 1533 01:07:24,502 --> 01:07:27,547 And I had a lot of fun. 1534 01:07:27,589 --> 01:07:29,132 It's fun. 1535 01:07:29,174 --> 01:07:31,134 [laughter] 1536 01:07:31,176 --> 01:07:32,844 That was the best-- 1537 01:07:32,886 --> 01:07:35,055 still is the best-- moments of my career. 1538 01:07:35,096 --> 01:07:36,890 - I think we can do better than that. 1539 01:07:36,931 --> 01:07:38,558 By you--by we, I mean me. 1540 01:07:38,600 --> 01:07:40,643 [laughter] 1541 01:07:41,936 --> 01:07:44,064 - Windham's happiness behind the scenes 1542 01:07:44,105 --> 01:07:45,982 translated on screen. 1543 01:07:46,024 --> 01:07:50,070 But he was about to experience a heavy loss. 1544 01:07:50,111 --> 01:07:52,655 * * 1545 01:07:55,742 --> 01:07:57,077 [somber music] 1546 01:07:57,118 --> 01:07:59,537 - In December of 2020, 1547 01:07:59,579 --> 01:08:01,748 one of Windham's closest friends, 1548 01:08:01,790 --> 01:08:07,337 John Huber, tragically passed away. 1549 01:08:07,379 --> 01:08:09,214 He was 41 years old. 1550 01:08:09,255 --> 01:08:12,467 * * 1551 01:08:12,509 --> 01:08:15,595 - [crying] I didn't want to believe it was true. 1552 01:08:15,637 --> 01:08:20,767 I don't think my brain let me do it--let me believe it. 1553 01:08:20,809 --> 01:08:25,230 * * 1554 01:08:25,271 --> 01:08:27,357 I'm struggling. 1555 01:08:27,399 --> 01:08:33,446 * * 1556 01:08:33,488 --> 01:08:38,284 - I know he was hurting a lot. 1557 01:08:38,326 --> 01:08:41,788 Because I know I was hurting a lot. 1558 01:08:41,830 --> 01:08:44,040 - They were so close. They were like brothers. 1559 01:08:44,082 --> 01:08:46,835 When you're in a group together with someone, 1560 01:08:46,876 --> 01:08:49,462 you share so much of your lives together 1561 01:08:49,504 --> 01:08:52,465 and they talk about their families and their kids 1562 01:08:52,507 --> 01:08:54,384 and all those things. 1563 01:08:54,426 --> 01:08:57,554 So I know it was a profound loss for him. 1564 01:08:57,595 --> 01:08:59,973 - I know more than anybody that no one can fill 1565 01:09:00,015 --> 01:09:03,977 the void that he left behind. 1566 01:09:04,019 --> 01:09:09,232 But I swear to God, I'll try. 1567 01:09:09,274 --> 01:09:11,943 * * 1568 01:09:11,985 --> 01:09:16,573 - He always just carried the heaviness around. 1569 01:09:16,614 --> 01:09:19,826 And he had a really, really, really hard time. 1570 01:09:19,868 --> 01:09:22,162 [tense music] 1571 01:09:22,203 --> 01:09:24,414 - Windham struggled 1572 01:09:24,456 --> 01:09:28,501 emotionally and professionally. 1573 01:09:28,543 --> 01:09:33,214 - Bray was a creative genius for his characters. 1574 01:09:33,256 --> 01:09:36,468 To work with Bray was very challenging because-- 1575 01:09:36,509 --> 01:09:39,429 I don't think that Bray came from a bad place, 1576 01:09:39,471 --> 01:09:41,348 but Bray had his visions. 1577 01:09:41,389 --> 01:09:46,144 Bray had what he wanted to do and Bray would fight you on it. 1578 01:09:46,186 --> 01:09:47,187 - You can't put the sweatband on? 1579 01:09:47,228 --> 01:09:48,271 - No. 1580 01:09:48,313 --> 01:09:49,606 - What's the transition? 1581 01:09:49,647 --> 01:09:51,107 How do I get to the rabbit? 1582 01:09:51,149 --> 01:09:53,026 - I'm grabbing him now anyway. 1583 01:09:53,068 --> 01:09:54,819 - He didn't like when other people were getting involved 1584 01:09:54,861 --> 01:09:56,529 and telling him what to do and telling him 1585 01:09:56,571 --> 01:09:58,365 how the character should act and how he should speak. 1586 01:09:58,406 --> 01:10:01,326 So it took a toll on him. 1587 01:10:01,368 --> 01:10:03,328 - Bray was a tremendous success. 1588 01:10:03,370 --> 01:10:04,704 But I think he created something that was 1589 01:10:04,746 --> 01:10:08,041 larger than another individual's thought process. 1590 01:10:08,083 --> 01:10:10,627 * * 1591 01:10:10,669 --> 01:10:14,255 - While there's a clear line between Windham and Bray Wyatt 1592 01:10:14,297 --> 01:10:16,549 and The Fiend and all those things, 1593 01:10:16,591 --> 01:10:19,636 they're all pieces of him that he put out there. 1594 01:10:19,678 --> 01:10:22,430 Sort of his heart and soul out on his sleeve. 1595 01:10:22,472 --> 01:10:24,891 He never stopped thinking about it. 1596 01:10:24,933 --> 01:10:28,061 - There's something we're missing here. 1597 01:10:28,103 --> 01:10:30,355 - It's one of the geniuses of him creatively. 1598 01:10:30,397 --> 01:10:32,065 It's also one of the things that was 1599 01:10:32,107 --> 01:10:33,983 difficult to work with him on because he was like 1600 01:10:34,025 --> 01:10:36,569 this whirlwind of ideas at all times. 1601 01:10:36,611 --> 01:10:39,989 Harnessing him into one thing got harder and harder-- 1602 01:10:40,031 --> 01:10:42,367 keeping him focused on the one idea 1603 01:10:42,409 --> 01:10:45,912 at hand, getting him to agree to the idea 1604 01:10:45,954 --> 01:10:48,581 that everybody was working on, and then stay committed to it 1605 01:10:48,623 --> 01:10:50,542 and not, all of a sudden, show up one day and go, 1606 01:10:50,583 --> 01:10:52,043 "Guys, I think we're going in the wrong direction. 1607 01:10:52,085 --> 01:10:53,670 We need to start over here." 1608 01:10:58,508 --> 01:11:01,428 - As the tension grew, the Bray Wyatt character 1609 01:11:01,469 --> 01:11:05,098 was about to undergo a drastic change. 1610 01:11:05,140 --> 01:11:08,309 - We had an Inferno match. 1611 01:11:08,351 --> 01:11:11,271 I remember seeing the look on his face 1612 01:11:11,312 --> 01:11:13,898 as he's getting covered with just all this goop 1613 01:11:13,940 --> 01:11:16,067 to keep him safe. 1614 01:11:16,109 --> 01:11:18,903 That was a stressful day. 1615 01:11:24,325 --> 01:11:25,660 - So frustrated? 1616 01:11:25,702 --> 01:11:27,787 Yes, to put it lightly. 1617 01:11:28,621 --> 01:11:30,623 - The only way to win is 1618 01:11:30,665 --> 01:11:33,960 to light any part of your opponent on fire. 1619 01:11:34,002 --> 01:11:36,046 [dramatic music] 1620 01:11:36,087 --> 01:11:37,005 - Oh! The Fiend's on fire! 1621 01:11:37,047 --> 01:11:38,423 - Oh, my God! Orton! 1622 01:11:38,465 --> 01:11:41,009 Orton just lit The Fiend on fire! 1623 01:11:41,051 --> 01:11:43,345 - He got burned. 1624 01:11:43,386 --> 01:11:47,974 That was extremely frustrating to him. 1625 01:11:48,016 --> 01:11:49,684 - He was very particular with his story 1626 01:11:49,726 --> 01:11:51,686 from beginning to end. 1627 01:11:51,728 --> 01:11:55,398 You can't pay off something if it took a turn. 1628 01:11:55,440 --> 01:11:56,983 He didn't know how to do that. 1629 01:11:57,025 --> 01:11:59,736 And I think that was very frustrating for him. 1630 01:12:07,327 --> 01:12:09,746 - That was the problem with the burnt Bray. 1631 01:12:09,788 --> 01:12:14,709 Because you had to have everything on you burnt 1632 01:12:14,751 --> 01:12:18,338 and melted and smoldering. 1633 01:12:18,380 --> 01:12:20,090 No one thought about that. 1634 01:12:20,131 --> 01:12:23,718 - Let me bring this to you back when I got this shit off of me. 1635 01:12:23,760 --> 01:12:25,261 But we ain't going to take pictures. 1636 01:12:25,303 --> 01:12:26,888 This is really brutal. 1637 01:12:26,930 --> 01:12:29,432 - All of a sudden now you're going from wrestling gear 1638 01:12:29,474 --> 01:12:34,437 and a hot mask to a hot mask and hot gear. 1639 01:12:34,479 --> 01:12:37,023 - I don't know if I can work like this. 1640 01:12:37,065 --> 01:12:38,525 - It was very difficult to move in. 1641 01:12:38,566 --> 01:12:39,859 It wasn't as pliable. 1642 01:12:39,901 --> 01:12:43,363 It wasn't as easy to maneuver and do everything 1643 01:12:43,405 --> 01:12:45,407 that you wanted to do. 1644 01:12:45,448 --> 01:12:47,701 - It moves and turns when you grab it. 1645 01:12:50,620 --> 01:12:54,374 [soft music] 1646 01:12:54,416 --> 01:12:56,251 - Remember this one. 1647 01:12:56,292 --> 01:12:58,211 - Wild looking at this, 1648 01:12:58,253 --> 01:12:59,713 'cause we both know 1649 01:12:59,754 --> 01:13:02,340 what a hard time he was having at this point. 1650 01:13:02,382 --> 01:13:03,717 You know, like... 1651 01:13:03,758 --> 01:13:05,969 - You're putting it politely. 1652 01:13:06,011 --> 01:13:08,346 He hated this thing. 1653 01:13:08,388 --> 01:13:10,056 Your brother knew the responsibility. 1654 01:13:10,098 --> 01:13:12,100 I think it weighed a lot on him, and it was hard. 1655 01:13:12,142 --> 01:13:14,686 And I felt really bad for him because I know 1656 01:13:14,728 --> 01:13:17,731 he gave it his all, he tried 100% to try to carry 1657 01:13:17,772 --> 01:13:20,316 you know, not only his character and the brand 1658 01:13:20,358 --> 01:13:22,652 and the company and everything, but it just-- 1659 01:13:22,694 --> 01:13:24,112 - It all led to that WrestleMania. 1660 01:13:24,154 --> 01:13:25,572 - Yeah. 1661 01:13:28,158 --> 01:13:31,119 [dramatic music] 1662 01:13:31,161 --> 01:13:33,830 * * 1663 01:13:33,872 --> 01:13:38,918 - WrestleMania 37, the first time in over a year 1664 01:13:38,960 --> 01:13:41,880 that the WWE fans would be in attendance. 1665 01:13:41,921 --> 01:13:44,591 - Who are you excited to see? 1666 01:13:44,632 --> 01:13:47,969 - Mostly The Fiend. 1667 01:13:48,011 --> 01:13:50,472 - I'm really excited to see Bray Wyatt. 1668 01:13:50,513 --> 01:13:52,098 I like his mind games that he plays. 1669 01:13:52,140 --> 01:13:55,185 - I want to see The Fiend go on and burn Randy Orton 1670 01:13:55,226 --> 01:13:56,644 down to the ground. 1671 01:13:56,686 --> 01:13:58,938 * * 1672 01:13:58,980 --> 01:14:01,107 - Yeah, at WrestleMania, when we finally were 1673 01:14:01,149 --> 01:14:03,943 in front of people, you see the transformation-- 1674 01:14:03,985 --> 01:14:08,573 The Fiend is stepping out of hell and of that burnt. 1675 01:14:08,615 --> 01:14:12,160 And now you have The Fiend again, and a pissed-off Fiend. 1676 01:14:12,202 --> 01:14:14,662 It was a way to get back to The Fiend. 1677 01:14:14,704 --> 01:14:18,416 Because the burn--the whole outfit didn't work, 1678 01:14:18,458 --> 01:14:21,795 and it was tough to continue that. 1679 01:14:21,836 --> 01:14:24,547 - And The Fiend has been restored. 1680 01:14:24,589 --> 01:14:27,300 - I think everyone was just as excited as we were 1681 01:14:27,342 --> 01:14:28,843 to see the Fiend back, 1682 01:14:28,885 --> 01:14:34,474 and it immediately turned into I turned on him... 1683 01:14:34,516 --> 01:14:35,809 - What the... 1684 01:14:35,850 --> 01:14:37,686 - Causing him to lose the match. 1685 01:14:37,727 --> 01:14:40,939 - And now Orton from behind with an RKO! 1686 01:14:40,980 --> 01:14:45,235 - And it wasn't what people wanted to see. 1687 01:14:45,276 --> 01:14:47,195 - If you love something that much and you put that much 1688 01:14:47,237 --> 01:14:52,200 time and effort, you want it to go the way your vision is. 1689 01:14:52,242 --> 01:14:54,869 And that was, like, very frustrating for him. 1690 01:14:57,372 --> 01:15:02,002 - At the time, I don't know exactly what the downfall was. 1691 01:15:02,043 --> 01:15:06,089 Creative minds can often be misinterpreted very easily. 1692 01:15:06,131 --> 01:15:09,759 So you can begin to have disagreements 1693 01:15:09,801 --> 01:15:11,886 of how things go, but it can be interpreted 1694 01:15:11,928 --> 01:15:14,764 in many different ways-- as creative differences 1695 01:15:14,806 --> 01:15:17,350 or he's just difficult to work with. 1696 01:15:17,392 --> 01:15:18,935 I don't know the exact answer. 1697 01:15:18,977 --> 01:15:21,688 I just know that it fell apart somehow. 1698 01:15:21,730 --> 01:15:23,273 * * 1699 01:15:23,314 --> 01:15:25,859 - At that time, WWE was still dealing with 1700 01:15:25,900 --> 01:15:27,360 the fallout of the pandemic. 1701 01:15:27,402 --> 01:15:30,113 And they released a bunch of superstars, 1702 01:15:30,155 --> 01:15:32,699 one of them being Windham's brother, Taylor. 1703 01:15:32,741 --> 01:15:34,284 And then a few months later, 1704 01:15:34,325 --> 01:15:38,288 they ended up releasing Windham as well. 1705 01:15:38,329 --> 01:15:41,291 You just kept clicking, trying to find the thing that goes, 1706 01:15:41,332 --> 01:15:42,500 no, that was fake. 1707 01:15:42,542 --> 01:15:43,585 That's not true. 1708 01:15:43,626 --> 01:15:44,753 No, of course it's not true. 1709 01:15:44,794 --> 01:15:47,213 - We all were shocked. 1710 01:15:47,255 --> 01:15:51,051 In retrospect, I can look back and I can look at pictures 1711 01:15:51,092 --> 01:15:54,387 and I'll zoom in on his eyes and I see it destroyed him. 1712 01:15:54,429 --> 01:15:57,724 That was bad. 1713 01:15:58,767 --> 01:16:02,896 - Aside from being invested in his family and his children, 1714 01:16:02,937 --> 01:16:05,899 wrestling was his life and that was his art 1715 01:16:05,940 --> 01:16:07,817 and that was his outlet. 1716 01:16:07,859 --> 01:16:11,196 And all of a sudden, instantaneously was-- 1717 01:16:11,237 --> 01:16:14,449 that's supposed to be just gone? 1718 01:16:14,491 --> 01:16:17,077 - For the first time in over a decade, 1719 01:16:17,118 --> 01:16:20,163 Windham was not part of WWE. 1720 01:16:23,958 --> 01:16:29,381 In its place, he found a new passion. 1721 01:16:29,422 --> 01:16:31,091 - So we're here in our home. 1722 01:16:31,132 --> 01:16:35,428 And this room, in particular, was Windham's art room. 1723 01:16:35,470 --> 01:16:39,724 It was his space where he created a lot of his magic. 1724 01:16:39,766 --> 01:16:43,770 And it has been untouched since he's been here. 1725 01:16:43,812 --> 01:16:45,438 So this is it. 1726 01:16:45,480 --> 01:16:48,274 This is the mind of Windham. 1727 01:16:48,316 --> 01:16:52,278 The first piece he did, and it's of me. 1728 01:16:52,320 --> 01:16:53,571 [laughs] 1729 01:16:53,613 --> 01:16:54,948 So it's one of the first pieces 1730 01:16:54,989 --> 01:16:56,449 he actually completed. 1731 01:16:56,491 --> 01:16:58,451 And it's spray paint. 1732 01:16:58,493 --> 01:16:59,619 [soft music] 1733 01:16:59,661 --> 01:17:00,829 This one right here, 1734 01:17:00,870 --> 01:17:02,872 it's Kendyl and Cadyn. 1735 01:17:02,914 --> 01:17:04,416 He wanted to recreate the picture that he had 1736 01:17:04,457 --> 01:17:06,292 in his phone of his girls. 1737 01:17:06,334 --> 01:17:08,211 And it's a beautiful picture of them standing 1738 01:17:08,253 --> 01:17:09,838 like that in the street. 1739 01:17:09,879 --> 01:17:15,135 He was in the middle of doing this as a gift for them. 1740 01:17:15,176 --> 01:17:18,763 I don't know if he ever truly felt like 1741 01:17:18,805 --> 01:17:20,473 anything was quite finished. 1742 01:17:20,515 --> 01:17:21,808 [laughs] 1743 01:17:21,850 --> 01:17:23,685 He did this over a course of two years. 1744 01:17:23,727 --> 01:17:24,978 He kept working on this-- 1745 01:17:25,020 --> 01:17:26,730 stopping, starting over. 1746 01:17:26,771 --> 01:17:28,189 But he always kept that part, 1747 01:17:28,231 --> 01:17:29,983 which I thought was really cool. 1748 01:17:30,025 --> 01:17:32,527 And he kept it because I told him how much I loved it. 1749 01:17:32,569 --> 01:17:34,821 I was like, oh, I love those eyes, the face. 1750 01:17:34,863 --> 01:17:36,406 I said, you did so good with that. 1751 01:17:36,448 --> 01:17:37,866 And he always kept it, 1752 01:17:37,907 --> 01:17:40,326 which I thought was really cool. 1753 01:17:40,368 --> 01:17:43,163 This one hung in our home in St. Pete. 1754 01:17:43,204 --> 01:17:47,709 And it reminds me a lot of when we got engaged. 1755 01:17:47,751 --> 01:17:53,006 He surprised me by getting down on one knee in St. Pete Pier. 1756 01:17:53,048 --> 01:17:55,633 So this art really ties in. 1757 01:17:55,675 --> 01:17:59,346 They're pieces that I won't let go of ever in my life 1758 01:17:59,387 --> 01:18:01,890 because it reminds me of that time. 1759 01:18:01,931 --> 01:18:03,683 * * 1760 01:18:03,725 --> 01:18:08,271 - 100% art is where he really just threw himself into that, 1761 01:18:08,313 --> 01:18:09,564 and he loved it. 1762 01:18:09,606 --> 01:18:11,441 Just always, oh, come do this with me and let me 1763 01:18:11,483 --> 01:18:14,986 show you this latest thing I'm trying out. 1764 01:18:15,028 --> 01:18:16,863 - Next thing you know, he would be showing us 1765 01:18:16,905 --> 01:18:18,281 these paintings. 1766 01:18:18,323 --> 01:18:19,949 Then we're like, you did that? 1767 01:18:19,991 --> 01:18:21,618 I cannot believe you did that. 1768 01:18:21,659 --> 01:18:23,620 He's like, I've been working on this for three nights in a row. 1769 01:18:23,661 --> 01:18:26,539 [laughs] Go to sleep. 1770 01:18:26,581 --> 01:18:28,958 It was amazing to see, once again, 1771 01:18:29,000 --> 01:18:30,251 this anomaly of a human. 1772 01:18:30,293 --> 01:18:31,544 When he invested into something 1773 01:18:31,586 --> 01:18:32,712 that he was going to do, 1774 01:18:32,754 --> 01:18:34,756 it was going to be phenomenal. 1775 01:18:36,132 --> 01:18:39,094 [light twangy music] 1776 01:18:39,135 --> 01:18:42,097 - While he immersed himself in his art, 1777 01:18:42,138 --> 01:18:45,016 Windham also started filming a reality TV pilot 1778 01:18:45,058 --> 01:18:46,434 with his brother. 1779 01:18:46,476 --> 01:18:50,230 * * 1780 01:18:50,271 --> 01:18:52,357 - [laughs] 1781 01:18:52,399 --> 01:18:55,652 Can I touch it? - Yeah. Yeah. 1782 01:18:55,694 --> 01:18:58,613 - We got the opportunity to go shoot a pilot 1783 01:18:58,655 --> 01:19:00,532 hunting monsters and cryptids 1784 01:19:00,573 --> 01:19:03,326 and conspiracy theories and going after cults. 1785 01:19:03,368 --> 01:19:05,954 - I can't believe we're in here, man. 1786 01:19:05,995 --> 01:19:07,288 - Our whole lives, we've always been into 1787 01:19:07,330 --> 01:19:09,165 the odd things in the world. 1788 01:19:09,207 --> 01:19:10,959 - When I was a little kid, when you watched, like, 1789 01:19:11,001 --> 01:19:12,377 "The Goonies" and all that stuff, 1790 01:19:12,419 --> 01:19:14,754 I remember thinking, oh, man, that's so cool. 1791 01:19:14,796 --> 01:19:16,798 I would love to just go around with my friends one day 1792 01:19:16,840 --> 01:19:18,091 and do that. 1793 01:19:18,133 --> 01:19:22,345 So this is how horror movies end. 1794 01:19:22,387 --> 01:19:25,849 - The more we hung out and started working on that, 1795 01:19:25,890 --> 01:19:27,100 the more it kind of morphed 1796 01:19:27,142 --> 01:19:29,686 back into talking about wrestling. 1797 01:19:29,728 --> 01:19:32,272 - I dive in and I think about it to the point 1798 01:19:32,313 --> 01:19:34,149 where it almost makes me nuts. 1799 01:19:34,190 --> 01:19:37,110 - We got excited again and realized maybe 1800 01:19:37,152 --> 01:19:38,445 we don't want to do this. 1801 01:19:38,486 --> 01:19:40,613 Maybe we want to go back and wrestle. 1802 01:19:40,655 --> 01:19:42,949 The more we talked, the more we collaborated, 1803 01:19:42,991 --> 01:19:45,869 the more we needed to make it back. 1804 01:19:45,910 --> 01:19:50,331 - In the summer of 2022, after a year away from WWE, 1805 01:19:50,373 --> 01:19:54,544 Windham started talking about making a return to the ring. 1806 01:19:54,586 --> 01:20:01,051 - There is not a lock on the door to the WWE. 1807 01:20:01,092 --> 01:20:06,431 And I think the audience was craving some Bray Wyatt. 1808 01:20:06,473 --> 01:20:10,310 - From the first time I got on the phone with him to discuss, 1809 01:20:10,352 --> 01:20:12,437 do you want to come back-- 1810 01:20:12,479 --> 01:20:15,023 like, hey, I'd love for you to come home. 1811 01:20:15,065 --> 01:20:17,317 And his part, hey, I'd love to be home. 1812 01:20:17,359 --> 01:20:20,070 I think that very first conversation we had, 1813 01:20:20,111 --> 01:20:23,198 it went from, hey, what are you thinking 1814 01:20:23,239 --> 01:20:25,367 about potentially coming back 1815 01:20:25,408 --> 01:20:28,995 to us riffing ideas for an hour and a half. 1816 01:20:29,037 --> 01:20:30,288 - He wasn't done. 1817 01:20:30,330 --> 01:20:32,207 He wanted to fix things about his legacy 1818 01:20:32,248 --> 01:20:34,209 and he didn't want to go out unexpectedly. 1819 01:20:34,250 --> 01:20:38,672 He had a lot more stories to tell the WWE Universe. 1820 01:20:38,713 --> 01:20:40,131 - He was in the gym a lot. 1821 01:20:40,173 --> 01:20:42,133 Like, three, four hours a day. 1822 01:20:42,175 --> 01:20:44,886 He really busted his ass. 1823 01:20:44,928 --> 01:20:50,350 - In the fall of 2022, Windham, now 35 years old, 1824 01:20:50,392 --> 01:20:53,645 was preparing for his return. 1825 01:20:53,687 --> 01:20:55,522 - He was coming back. 1826 01:20:55,563 --> 01:20:56,731 He was working for it. 1827 01:20:56,773 --> 01:20:59,150 [tense music] 1828 01:20:59,192 --> 01:21:01,695 - So when Windham was negotiating with WWE 1829 01:21:01,736 --> 01:21:03,363 to make his return, 1830 01:21:03,405 --> 01:21:07,617 he reached out to TJ and asked TJ, 1831 01:21:07,659 --> 01:21:09,494 hey, I need you to keep this to yourself, 1832 01:21:09,536 --> 01:21:12,038 but would you and Natty be OK if I started 1833 01:21:12,080 --> 01:21:14,374 coming down to your ring? 1834 01:21:14,416 --> 01:21:16,543 - Bray was super motivated at that time. 1835 01:21:16,584 --> 01:21:19,170 I did want to gauge where he was mentally. 1836 01:21:19,212 --> 01:21:20,338 And he said, TJ, I know. 1837 01:21:20,380 --> 01:21:22,507 He said, I'm super excited. 1838 01:21:22,549 --> 01:21:26,094 And he went from it being kind of a private thing to him 1839 01:21:26,136 --> 01:21:28,263 going around and giving each person specific, 1840 01:21:28,304 --> 01:21:30,098 individualized advice. 1841 01:21:30,140 --> 01:21:32,100 That just shows you how his brain was working 1842 01:21:32,142 --> 01:21:34,310 from a creative standpoint. 1843 01:21:34,352 --> 01:21:35,603 - You could just feel that excitement. 1844 01:21:35,645 --> 01:21:37,605 You felt, like, that childlike wonder. 1845 01:21:37,647 --> 01:21:39,983 He really wanted to get in the best shape of his life 1846 01:21:40,025 --> 01:21:42,444 and he wanted this to be his best run ever. 1847 01:21:42,485 --> 01:21:45,780 - He started talking to me about what my ideas were 1848 01:21:45,822 --> 01:21:47,157 and if I should go back. 1849 01:21:47,198 --> 01:21:50,827 And I decided I was going to pursue a conversation 1850 01:21:50,869 --> 01:21:54,372 with the company again to see where I would stand 1851 01:21:54,414 --> 01:21:57,417 and started getting excited again 1852 01:21:57,459 --> 01:22:01,129 like it was my first time getting into the ring again. 1853 01:22:01,171 --> 01:22:04,883 - About the same time I brought into the company 1854 01:22:04,924 --> 01:22:07,344 a guy named Rob Fee. 1855 01:22:07,385 --> 01:22:09,846 - I met with Hunter and Bray. 1856 01:22:09,888 --> 01:22:12,557 If I would ask him a question and be like, hey, 1857 01:22:12,599 --> 01:22:15,060 what do you think about this thing, an hour and a half 1858 01:22:15,101 --> 01:22:17,812 later of completely off-the-wall ideas, 1859 01:22:17,854 --> 01:22:19,606 we'd land on something. 1860 01:22:19,647 --> 01:22:22,984 And I'm like, man, if he's bringing this energy back 1861 01:22:23,026 --> 01:22:27,447 to WWE, it's going to be a wild ride. 1862 01:22:27,489 --> 01:22:31,117 - It sort of started this kind of three-way collaboration 1863 01:22:31,159 --> 01:22:33,078 on this project. 1864 01:22:33,119 --> 01:22:35,830 And Bray would call us both and say, 1865 01:22:35,872 --> 01:22:38,041 hey, I have this idea. 1866 01:22:42,170 --> 01:22:45,131 [tense music] 1867 01:22:45,173 --> 01:22:51,680 * * 1868 01:22:51,721 --> 01:22:52,806 - Who... - Killed... 1869 01:22:52,847 --> 01:22:55,266 - The... - World? 1870 01:22:56,267 --> 01:22:58,895 - You... - Did. 1871 01:22:58,937 --> 01:23:03,983 - We started coming up with all these crazy, Easter-eggy-- 1872 01:23:04,025 --> 01:23:09,322 like, how could we riff these ideas to lead to this return? 1873 01:23:09,364 --> 01:23:11,574 That was me, Bray. 1874 01:23:11,616 --> 01:23:15,370 And Rob was really instrumental. 1875 01:23:15,412 --> 01:23:20,500 - It was Bray coming up with crazy bits of lore. 1876 01:23:20,542 --> 01:23:23,003 Then he'd be like, here, make this into something. 1877 01:23:23,044 --> 01:23:28,633 - Friday Night SmackDown! 1878 01:23:28,675 --> 01:23:31,720 - Brought up the first QR code. 1879 01:23:31,761 --> 01:23:35,015 It led to a puzzle. 1880 01:23:35,056 --> 01:23:36,349 I believe viewership was up 1881 01:23:36,391 --> 01:23:39,102 25% because people were 1882 01:23:39,144 --> 01:23:42,480 so excited to see what this was leading to. 1883 01:23:42,522 --> 01:23:45,692 - The White Rabbit teases are all that 1884 01:23:45,734 --> 01:23:48,236 any wrestling fan wants to talk about. 1885 01:23:48,278 --> 01:23:51,614 It was so vague and complicated that 1886 01:23:51,656 --> 01:23:57,370 it allowed us to just speculate wildly for weeks at a time. 1887 01:23:57,412 --> 01:23:59,456 - We did rabbits in the crowd. 1888 01:23:59,497 --> 01:24:02,417 We had latitude and longitudes 1889 01:24:02,459 --> 01:24:04,419 in Italy that if you 1890 01:24:04,461 --> 01:24:05,420 viewed it from overhead, 1891 01:24:05,462 --> 01:24:07,881 was this giant pink bunny. 1892 01:24:07,922 --> 01:24:10,842 All the clues were just enough to where it felt like 1893 01:24:10,884 --> 01:24:14,137 a Bray thing, but it wasn't for sure. 1894 01:24:14,179 --> 01:24:17,349 The final one we did, fire shoots out 1895 01:24:17,390 --> 01:24:19,809 and it brings up the date of Extreme Rules. 1896 01:24:19,851 --> 01:24:22,312 'Cause we were like, at this point, you know, 1897 01:24:22,354 --> 01:24:24,314 let's stop [bleep] with them and just show them 1898 01:24:24,356 --> 01:24:26,274 exactly what it is. 1899 01:24:28,068 --> 01:24:32,238 - October 8, 2022. 1900 01:24:32,280 --> 01:24:36,242 The day had finally arrived. 1901 01:24:36,284 --> 01:24:43,208 After 15 months, Windham was home. 1902 01:24:43,249 --> 01:24:45,377 - I didn't know I could draw a year ago. 1903 01:24:45,418 --> 01:24:47,253 You want to see something cool? 1904 01:24:47,295 --> 01:24:49,005 I was really proud of this. 1905 01:24:49,047 --> 01:24:52,342 It's the first time I ever did this by myself. 1906 01:24:52,384 --> 01:24:54,928 This is the concept art. 1907 01:24:54,969 --> 01:24:57,597 Sitting at home for a year by yourself and painting 1908 01:24:57,639 --> 01:25:00,350 and kind of, you know, thinking about these things 1909 01:25:00,392 --> 01:25:02,602 and designing all these ideas 1910 01:25:02,644 --> 01:25:05,271 that I'm dreaming of--one day, maybe we can get a chance 1911 01:25:05,313 --> 01:25:06,898 to do this stuff-- 1912 01:25:06,940 --> 01:25:11,861 it's such a cool feeling to be on the cusp of it. 1913 01:25:11,903 --> 01:25:14,447 This is always the most exciting part for me, 1914 01:25:14,489 --> 01:25:16,908 this joy you get from creating. 1915 01:25:16,950 --> 01:25:19,953 And you're stressing me out hovering over me 1916 01:25:19,994 --> 01:25:21,121 now that I'm doing it. 1917 01:25:21,162 --> 01:25:24,082 This is how I keep calm 1918 01:25:24,124 --> 01:25:26,876 kind of in stressful situations. 1919 01:25:26,918 --> 01:25:28,378 [tense music] 1920 01:25:28,420 --> 01:25:31,172 - He was nervous, for sure. 1921 01:25:31,214 --> 01:25:33,299 I was not there for Extreme Rules. 1922 01:25:33,341 --> 01:25:35,135 But I remember he would call me 1923 01:25:35,176 --> 01:25:36,803 and he'd just be like, ugh. 1924 01:25:36,845 --> 01:25:40,890 He'd pace back and forth constantly. 1925 01:25:40,932 --> 01:25:41,891 He was like, I can't. 1926 01:25:41,933 --> 01:25:42,976 I just can't right now. 1927 01:25:43,018 --> 01:25:44,144 And I'm like, OK. 1928 01:25:44,185 --> 01:25:47,939 But just to make sure that it was 1929 01:25:47,981 --> 01:25:50,650 done the way he wanted it to be done 1930 01:25:50,692 --> 01:25:53,278 was so much pressure on him that it made him nervous. 1931 01:25:53,319 --> 01:25:55,947 He's like, I got to do this right. 1932 01:25:55,989 --> 01:25:57,449 - I always think, oh, no, 1933 01:25:57,490 --> 01:25:58,825 so this person is not going to like this. 1934 01:25:58,867 --> 01:26:01,619 This person is not going to like that. 1935 01:26:03,872 --> 01:26:05,373 [booming] 1936 01:26:05,415 --> 01:26:12,339 - 15,944 WWE fans are here tonight. 1937 01:26:12,380 --> 01:26:16,426 We are sold out for Extreme Rules. 1938 01:26:16,468 --> 01:26:18,136 - I remember Hunter came on the bus and was like, 1939 01:26:18,178 --> 01:26:19,888 we just think it'd be kind of cool to just 1940 01:26:19,929 --> 01:26:22,349 show your characters just sort of invaded back 1941 01:26:22,390 --> 01:26:23,850 into the world of WWE. 1942 01:26:23,892 --> 01:26:26,311 And we're like, yeah, sounds like a plan. 1943 01:26:26,353 --> 01:26:28,772 Bruce and Hunter are like, we want The Fiend, as well. 1944 01:26:28,813 --> 01:26:31,399 We were just going to grab a random extra or somebody. 1945 01:26:31,441 --> 01:26:32,817 And Windham goes, "No. 1946 01:26:32,859 --> 01:26:35,028 "Jason, you're the only person I trust 1947 01:26:35,070 --> 01:26:37,947 and you're the only person that deserves to do it." 1948 01:26:37,989 --> 01:26:40,241 - You got this, man. 1949 01:26:40,283 --> 01:26:41,826 [laughs] 1950 01:26:41,868 --> 01:26:45,163 - The honor is definitely not lost on me. 1951 01:26:45,205 --> 01:26:48,583 - You only get this a couple times in your life, you know? 1952 01:26:48,625 --> 01:26:51,252 The feeling of pure bliss, you know? 1953 01:26:51,294 --> 01:26:52,337 The nerves. 1954 01:26:52,379 --> 01:26:54,297 The bliss. 1955 01:26:54,339 --> 01:26:55,924 It's pretty wild, man. 1956 01:27:02,764 --> 01:27:05,058 I want to show everybody what all the hard work is, 1957 01:27:05,100 --> 01:27:06,518 you know? 1958 01:27:06,559 --> 01:27:08,770 It's time, bro. 1959 01:27:09,562 --> 01:27:13,233 - Windham emerged just 15 minutes before 1960 01:27:13,274 --> 01:27:15,902 his long-awaited return. 1961 01:27:19,906 --> 01:27:22,325 - They knew something was going to happen on the show. 1962 01:27:22,367 --> 01:27:25,203 And this was after the main event. 1963 01:27:25,245 --> 01:27:27,080 So you know, they're like, did we miss something? 1964 01:27:27,122 --> 01:27:28,415 Was it wrong? 1965 01:27:28,456 --> 01:27:30,041 The logo comes up at the bottom. 1966 01:27:30,083 --> 01:27:31,626 You think the show's over. 1967 01:27:33,169 --> 01:27:37,549 [cheers and applause] 1968 01:27:37,590 --> 01:27:40,677 - Corey, are we still on the air? 1969 01:27:41,302 --> 01:27:45,140 - * He's got the whole world * 1970 01:27:45,181 --> 01:27:47,017 [crowd roaring] 1971 01:27:47,058 --> 01:27:49,269 * In his hands * 1972 01:27:49,310 --> 01:27:50,395 [eerie music] 1973 01:27:50,437 --> 01:27:53,106 - God, what the-- 1974 01:27:53,148 --> 01:27:58,278 - * He's got the whole wide world * 1975 01:27:58,319 --> 01:28:01,364 * In his hands * 1976 01:28:01,406 --> 01:28:03,742 * * 1977 01:28:03,783 --> 01:28:06,911 * He's got the whole world * 1978 01:28:06,953 --> 01:28:12,500 * In his hands * 1979 01:28:12,542 --> 01:28:16,880 * He's got the whole world * 1980 01:28:16,921 --> 01:28:19,549 [dramatic music] 1981 01:28:19,591 --> 01:28:21,676 * * 1982 01:28:21,718 --> 01:28:25,513 [cheers and applause] 1983 01:28:29,559 --> 01:28:33,104 all: Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! 1984 01:28:33,146 --> 01:28:37,150 Holy shit! Holy shit! 1985 01:28:37,192 --> 01:28:40,070 [crowd roaring] 1986 01:28:49,079 --> 01:28:52,582 [soft music] 1987 01:28:52,624 --> 01:28:54,167 - I don't think I've ever experienced 1988 01:28:54,209 --> 01:28:56,169 a sensation quite like that. 1989 01:28:56,211 --> 01:28:58,213 I felt like I was just hovering out there-- 1990 01:28:58,254 --> 01:28:59,839 like I wasn't walking. 1991 01:28:59,881 --> 01:29:02,926 I've never felt anything like it. 1992 01:29:02,967 --> 01:29:05,804 Bro, I seriously--like, I'm on [bleep] edge right now. 1993 01:29:05,845 --> 01:29:09,432 I feel like I was just almost in a car wreck, you know? 1994 01:29:09,474 --> 01:29:11,017 Holy shit. 1995 01:29:11,059 --> 01:29:13,645 - It literally blew the effing roof off the place. 1996 01:29:13,687 --> 01:29:15,230 And I was like, holy cow. 1997 01:29:15,271 --> 01:29:17,691 It was a sight for sore eyes. 1998 01:29:17,732 --> 01:29:19,401 [laughs] 1999 01:29:19,442 --> 01:29:21,820 - We're going to make this way bigger than it's ever been, 2000 01:29:21,861 --> 01:29:23,947 all right? - I'm down. 2001 01:29:23,988 --> 01:29:26,533 - When you talk about blowing the roof off of a place-- 2002 01:29:26,574 --> 01:29:29,244 they may still be trying to put it back on. 2003 01:29:29,285 --> 01:29:32,372 It was an explosion when Bray returned. 2004 01:29:32,414 --> 01:29:33,790 They knew. 2005 01:29:33,832 --> 01:29:36,918 They wanted it, then they got it. 2006 01:29:36,960 --> 01:29:38,461 * * 2007 01:29:38,503 --> 01:29:40,880 - Not everybody gets to spend their 40th birthday 2008 01:29:40,922 --> 01:29:42,882 dressing up as their best friend 2009 01:29:42,924 --> 01:29:44,509 and helping them come back to their job. 2010 01:29:44,551 --> 01:29:49,264 * * 2011 01:29:49,305 --> 01:29:51,391 - Biggest thing in wrestling in a very, very long time. 2012 01:29:51,433 --> 01:29:52,517 - Yeah. 2013 01:29:52,559 --> 01:29:54,185 I've never heard anything 2014 01:29:54,227 --> 01:29:56,479 that loud in my life. 2015 01:29:56,521 --> 01:29:57,731 It was insane. 2016 01:29:57,772 --> 01:30:00,233 - It was so cool. It's just wild. 2017 01:30:00,275 --> 01:30:05,905 And just seeing this jacket and his re-debut, coming back. 2018 01:30:05,947 --> 01:30:11,244 And he sparked a fire under me like I never felt. 2019 01:30:11,286 --> 01:30:13,705 And it was all him. 2020 01:30:13,747 --> 01:30:15,415 - Part of professional wrestling is 2021 01:30:15,457 --> 01:30:16,666 the theater of the mind. 2022 01:30:16,708 --> 01:30:19,210 It's to take you away from reality. 2023 01:30:19,252 --> 01:30:21,254 And when you have a character that you look forward 2024 01:30:21,296 --> 01:30:23,214 to seeing each week and then they're gone, 2025 01:30:23,256 --> 01:30:25,133 you can't wait to have that back. 2026 01:30:25,175 --> 01:30:28,011 There was something about him that made people feel better. 2027 01:30:28,053 --> 01:30:31,389 And people missed seeing that on TV. 2028 01:30:31,431 --> 01:30:34,559 [crowd chanting] 2029 01:30:40,190 --> 01:30:41,941 - [laughs] 2030 01:30:41,983 --> 01:30:43,735 I don't know if y'all can read this on me, 2031 01:30:43,777 --> 01:30:47,113 but I am incredibly grateful. 2032 01:30:47,155 --> 01:30:50,075 And I'm really, really nervous to be here. 2033 01:30:50,116 --> 01:30:51,993 I never thought that this would happen. 2034 01:30:52,035 --> 01:30:53,953 [cheering] 2035 01:30:53,995 --> 01:30:55,997 [laughs] 2036 01:30:58,667 --> 01:31:01,252 This right here, this is just me, OK? 2037 01:31:01,294 --> 01:31:03,963 This is a version of me that I've never 2038 01:31:04,005 --> 01:31:06,758 got to introduce to you guys before. 2039 01:31:06,800 --> 01:31:09,302 This is just me being me-- 2040 01:31:09,344 --> 01:31:11,930 genuine me--for the first time. 2041 01:31:15,016 --> 01:31:16,893 - I felt like people were just so grateful for him 2042 01:31:16,935 --> 01:31:18,228 and grateful to have him back. 2043 01:31:18,269 --> 01:31:20,980 And then that promo where he was just kind of raw 2044 01:31:21,022 --> 01:31:25,443 and spoke more as Windham was so unique and so different. 2045 01:31:25,485 --> 01:31:29,197 - I can sit here right now today and I can look all of you 2046 01:31:29,239 --> 01:31:32,409 in the eyes and I can say that you were there 2047 01:31:32,450 --> 01:31:36,329 when I was weak, when I was vulnerable, when I was down. 2048 01:31:36,371 --> 01:31:39,290 So I just wanted to say thank you. 2049 01:31:39,332 --> 01:31:42,627 You all saved my life. 2050 01:31:42,669 --> 01:31:44,504 [cheers and applause] 2051 01:31:44,546 --> 01:31:46,006 - That's my favorite Bray Wyatt promo. 2052 01:31:46,047 --> 01:31:48,133 Because not only do they already love him 2053 01:31:48,174 --> 01:31:50,051 for his commitment and for everything he's done 2054 01:31:50,093 --> 01:31:51,886 and for the rides he's taken them on 2055 01:31:51,928 --> 01:31:54,681 with these different characters all these years, 2056 01:31:54,723 --> 01:31:56,391 now they get to see a window into him 2057 01:31:56,433 --> 01:31:58,893 as the actual person. 2058 01:31:58,935 --> 01:32:01,187 When he did that promo, I was like, oh, now we're cooking. 2059 01:32:01,229 --> 01:32:04,190 [crowd chanting] 2060 01:32:11,990 --> 01:32:15,243 - He forgot how much he meant to people. 2061 01:32:15,285 --> 01:32:18,830 When he got reminded of that is what I loved. 2062 01:32:18,872 --> 01:32:20,915 [somber music] 2063 01:32:20,957 --> 01:32:23,793 - If I didn't have such passionate fans, 2064 01:32:23,835 --> 01:32:24,919 I wouldn't be here. 2065 01:32:24,961 --> 01:32:26,504 I really wouldn't. 2066 01:32:26,546 --> 01:32:28,673 - What's the best part about being a wrestler? 2067 01:32:28,715 --> 01:32:30,884 - The best part is-- 2068 01:32:30,925 --> 01:32:32,719 you know, this may sound corny, 2069 01:32:32,761 --> 01:32:35,305 but it's the truth-- is the fans. 2070 01:32:35,347 --> 01:32:38,892 To have fans that are so into what I do, 2071 01:32:38,933 --> 01:32:40,810 it feels like it's part of their life too. 2072 01:32:40,852 --> 01:32:43,646 [laughs] - Oh, my God. 2073 01:32:43,688 --> 01:32:46,066 - Are you trying to scare me? 2074 01:32:46,107 --> 01:32:48,526 It's them that led me back here. 2075 01:32:48,568 --> 01:32:50,528 This is the best I've ever felt. 2076 01:32:50,570 --> 01:32:53,865 * * 2077 01:32:53,907 --> 01:32:56,618 - He felt like he was getting a second chance, 2078 01:32:56,659 --> 01:32:58,828 and he had a lot more perspective 2079 01:32:58,870 --> 01:33:00,914 on what that could be. 2080 01:33:00,955 --> 01:33:05,210 And so he was excited to bring as much of himself 2081 01:33:05,251 --> 01:33:07,379 into that character. 2082 01:33:07,420 --> 01:33:13,301 - Bray wanted to take the audience on a journey. 2083 01:33:13,343 --> 01:33:14,344 Here I am. 2084 01:33:14,386 --> 01:33:16,262 I'm Windham Rotunda. 2085 01:33:16,304 --> 01:33:19,766 I'm just a regular guy just like you. 2086 01:33:19,808 --> 01:33:21,309 But yet, I'm different. 2087 01:33:21,351 --> 01:33:23,019 [dramatic music] 2088 01:33:23,061 --> 01:33:27,691 - My emotions, they don't work like most other people's. 2089 01:33:27,732 --> 01:33:29,317 I don't have control. 2090 01:33:29,359 --> 01:33:34,823 And sometimes, they can send me to a very, very dark place. 2091 01:33:34,864 --> 01:33:37,575 - Bray Wyatt once had a family. 2092 01:33:37,617 --> 01:33:40,578 The Fiend had his Fun House. 2093 01:33:40,620 --> 01:33:46,209 But this time, Windham needed someone else-- 2094 01:33:46,251 --> 01:33:49,045 his brother. 2095 01:33:49,087 --> 01:33:51,297 - We wanted to use Taylor all along. 2096 01:33:51,339 --> 01:33:54,300 And I thought it was a pretty cool concept. 2097 01:33:54,342 --> 01:33:56,469 - The whole thing came from this nightmare 2098 01:33:56,511 --> 01:33:58,304 that he used to have when he was a child 2099 01:33:58,346 --> 01:34:00,390 that would haunt him in his dreams. 2100 01:34:00,432 --> 01:34:02,684 That was the catalyst to create 2101 01:34:02,726 --> 01:34:04,269 the Uncle Howdy look and design. 2102 01:34:04,310 --> 01:34:07,188 * * 2103 01:34:07,230 --> 01:34:10,650 - To be able to freely work with him for the first time 2104 01:34:10,692 --> 01:34:14,779 as colleagues and as brothers, it was like a dream come true. 2105 01:34:14,821 --> 01:34:16,197 Windham had already accomplished 2106 01:34:16,239 --> 01:34:18,533 the most unbelievable things 2107 01:34:18,575 --> 01:34:20,160 you could do in this business. 2108 01:34:20,201 --> 01:34:24,539 And his only goal left was to do it together. 2109 01:34:24,581 --> 01:34:26,166 [somber music] 2110 01:34:26,207 --> 01:34:30,045 We were both becoming monsters. 2111 01:34:30,086 --> 01:34:33,131 I was going to work just to hang out with my brother. 2112 01:34:33,173 --> 01:34:35,175 That was my job. 2113 01:34:35,216 --> 01:34:39,095 You know, and to play with my brother. 2114 01:34:39,137 --> 01:34:40,680 - What is that thing? 2115 01:34:40,722 --> 01:34:43,725 - Oh, that's Uncle Howdy. 2116 01:34:44,726 --> 01:34:47,771 - Being two little kids again, developing the characters, 2117 01:34:47,812 --> 01:34:50,065 and coming up with ideas for them 2118 01:34:50,106 --> 01:34:53,443 to be able to work together and complement each other 2119 01:34:53,485 --> 01:34:55,737 was awesome. 2120 01:34:55,779 --> 01:34:59,491 - Uncle Howdy just launched himself off the top! 2121 01:35:01,076 --> 01:35:03,787 - We're going to be in WrestleMania together. 2122 01:35:03,828 --> 01:35:06,539 We always had that dream. 2123 01:35:06,581 --> 01:35:09,959 And that dream never changed. 2124 01:35:10,001 --> 01:35:13,713 It only got stronger and more real. 2125 01:35:13,755 --> 01:35:17,842 That time period where we were working together... 2126 01:35:17,884 --> 01:35:20,136 - And Sister Abigail! 2127 01:35:20,178 --> 01:35:22,889 - It meant everything to me. 2128 01:35:22,931 --> 01:35:24,933 - You're welcome, Montreal. 2129 01:35:24,974 --> 01:35:27,602 [cheers and applause] 2130 01:35:27,644 --> 01:35:29,479 - It was too good to be true. 2131 01:35:29,521 --> 01:35:31,481 * * 2132 01:35:31,523 --> 01:35:32,982 - All of a sudden, he had this, like, 2133 01:35:33,024 --> 01:35:34,984 second lease on life. 2134 01:35:35,026 --> 01:35:37,278 Man, it came out of everything he did-- 2135 01:35:37,320 --> 01:35:38,863 the joy of it. 2136 01:35:38,905 --> 01:35:43,243 And you know, as we were doing it, sometimes, we would talk, 2137 01:35:43,284 --> 01:35:46,663 and then we'd get done an hour of creative whatever. 2138 01:35:46,705 --> 01:35:48,873 And then he'd call me back two seconds later and be like, 2139 01:35:48,915 --> 01:35:50,917 hey, man, I just want you to know how much this means to me 2140 01:35:50,959 --> 01:35:52,335 and how much fun I'm having. 2141 01:35:52,377 --> 01:35:54,963 And it made me want to work harder for him. 2142 01:35:55,005 --> 01:35:56,881 It made me want to run through a wall for him 2143 01:35:56,923 --> 01:35:59,926 to get this stuff done and to get it where it needed to be. 2144 01:35:59,968 --> 01:36:03,013 [tense music] 2145 01:36:03,054 --> 01:36:07,642 - February 26, 2023. 2146 01:36:07,684 --> 01:36:09,602 - Here I'm getting to stand across from a guy 2147 01:36:09,644 --> 01:36:15,066 who had really built a name and a whole aura for himself. 2148 01:36:15,108 --> 01:36:17,902 That's huge. 2149 01:36:17,944 --> 01:36:20,947 He said that his calf or his knee started to, like, 2150 01:36:20,989 --> 01:36:22,032 seize up or something. 2151 01:36:22,073 --> 01:36:23,033 And I was like, are you good? 2152 01:36:23,074 --> 01:36:24,367 Are you good? 2153 01:36:24,409 --> 01:36:25,952 And it was just like, all right, well, 2154 01:36:25,994 --> 01:36:28,038 we were trying to work as best we could 2155 01:36:28,079 --> 01:36:30,081 to kind of protect him. 2156 01:36:32,334 --> 01:36:34,878 - Nobody knew at the time-- 2157 01:36:34,919 --> 01:36:37,672 not even Windham Rotunda-- 2158 01:36:37,714 --> 01:36:42,552 that he had just completed his final match. 2159 01:36:46,014 --> 01:36:46,973 [tense music] 2160 01:36:47,015 --> 01:36:49,309 - March 2023. 2161 01:36:49,351 --> 01:36:51,353 The Bray Wyatt character was suddenly 2162 01:36:51,394 --> 01:36:55,357 absent from WWE programming. 2163 01:36:55,398 --> 01:36:59,736 - I was at TV and found out Windham wasn't there. 2164 01:36:59,778 --> 01:37:01,905 And I called him like, where are you at? 2165 01:37:01,946 --> 01:37:04,616 And he was at home. He had COVID. 2166 01:37:04,657 --> 01:37:06,701 - He went to the hospital. 2167 01:37:06,743 --> 01:37:08,244 He tested positive for COVID. 2168 01:37:08,286 --> 01:37:09,913 They were like, oh, my God. They admitted him. 2169 01:37:09,954 --> 01:37:11,498 His heart. 2170 01:37:11,539 --> 01:37:16,503 * * 2171 01:37:16,544 --> 01:37:19,964 He had to go do stress and echocardiograms 2172 01:37:20,006 --> 01:37:23,176 through this period of time. 2173 01:37:23,218 --> 01:37:24,636 - It was a weakened heart. 2174 01:37:24,678 --> 01:37:27,681 It was like, the way his heart performed and functioned, 2175 01:37:27,722 --> 01:37:30,725 it was not where it needed to be. 2176 01:37:30,767 --> 01:37:32,644 It kept making him feel off. 2177 01:37:32,686 --> 01:37:35,647 He kept saying, I feel off. 2178 01:37:35,689 --> 01:37:38,483 - I didn't think it was that serious. 2179 01:37:38,525 --> 01:37:40,860 I mean, to me, he's my big brother. 2180 01:37:40,902 --> 01:37:42,696 Nothing can hurt him. 2181 01:37:42,737 --> 01:37:44,322 * * 2182 01:37:44,364 --> 01:37:46,449 - He didn't share too many details. 2183 01:37:46,491 --> 01:37:48,576 He just always wanted to assure everybody that he was fine-- 2184 01:37:48,618 --> 01:37:50,036 I'm fine. 2185 01:37:50,078 --> 01:37:53,540 But I could see that he didn't feel amazing. 2186 01:37:53,581 --> 01:37:55,208 - He worked with a cardiologist. 2187 01:37:55,250 --> 01:37:56,668 And he was on medication. 2188 01:37:56,710 --> 01:38:01,297 He was already cleared to work out, but not a lot. 2189 01:38:01,339 --> 01:38:05,427 They'd say just light cardio was fine, so he would do that. 2190 01:38:05,468 --> 01:38:07,178 He was doing a little bit better and then 2191 01:38:07,220 --> 01:38:08,596 it kept getting better and better and better. 2192 01:38:08,638 --> 01:38:11,349 And then a couple times, it kind of backtracked. 2193 01:38:13,643 --> 01:38:16,563 - My sister, she was staying at his guest house. 2194 01:38:16,604 --> 01:38:18,189 And when she walked in the garage, 2195 01:38:18,231 --> 01:38:19,983 there was a rattlesnake. 2196 01:38:20,025 --> 01:38:22,110 So we freaked out and drove there. 2197 01:38:22,152 --> 01:38:26,531 And we had to lift up some stuff and get to it. 2198 01:38:26,573 --> 01:38:30,410 And afterwards-- he always sweated, 2199 01:38:30,452 --> 01:38:33,246 but it was more than that, and in his eyes. 2200 01:38:33,288 --> 01:38:35,290 And he said, I don't feel good. 2201 01:38:35,331 --> 01:38:36,958 I just got to take a nap. 2202 01:38:37,000 --> 01:38:40,086 And it was, like, 3:00 in the afternoon. 2203 01:38:40,128 --> 01:38:44,674 And it crossed my mind. 2204 01:38:44,716 --> 01:38:47,010 And I worried for him because he's my brother. 2205 01:38:47,052 --> 01:38:48,762 In that moment, I go, are you OK? 2206 01:38:48,803 --> 01:38:50,096 And I asked him then. 2207 01:38:50,138 --> 01:38:51,848 Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. 2208 01:38:51,890 --> 01:38:53,558 But I never really worried. 2209 01:38:53,600 --> 01:38:57,604 I never thought, oh, Windham is really sick. 2210 01:38:57,645 --> 01:38:59,064 Never for a second. 2211 01:38:59,105 --> 01:39:02,609 I was just waiting for the call to come back as monsters 2212 01:39:02,650 --> 01:39:04,027 like we both wanted. 2213 01:39:04,069 --> 01:39:07,072 * * 2214 01:39:07,113 --> 01:39:08,782 - He was still under the doctor's care. 2215 01:39:08,823 --> 01:39:12,452 And we were right there to where, oh, he's fine. 2216 01:39:12,494 --> 01:39:15,121 He should be able to go back soon. 2217 01:39:15,163 --> 01:39:17,374 But he didn't feel good. 2218 01:39:17,415 --> 01:39:21,795 And they set him up with a vest that 2219 01:39:21,836 --> 01:39:26,633 was actually to where it would shock him if he stopped. 2220 01:39:26,675 --> 01:39:30,136 And they released him from the hospital with that, 2221 01:39:30,178 --> 01:39:31,346 and he swore he would wear it. 2222 01:39:31,388 --> 01:39:32,639 Mike and I picked him up at the hospital 2223 01:39:32,681 --> 01:39:34,099 and brought him home. 2224 01:39:34,140 --> 01:39:37,394 We watched it get fitted and everything, and he wore it. 2225 01:39:37,435 --> 01:39:43,191 And then he went for the follow-up with his doctor. 2226 01:39:46,027 --> 01:39:49,364 - Thursday, August 24. 2227 01:39:49,406 --> 01:39:52,534 Windham had a morning checkup with his doctor. 2228 01:39:52,575 --> 01:39:55,912 - He called me and he said, probably, at some point, 2229 01:39:55,954 --> 01:39:58,289 I'm going to have to do a pacemaker or something. 2230 01:39:58,331 --> 01:40:01,501 So he didn't tell me there was good news or bad news, 2231 01:40:01,543 --> 01:40:03,878 but he was-- 2232 01:40:03,920 --> 01:40:05,922 Ma, I'm going to be fine. 2233 01:40:05,964 --> 01:40:07,632 - It was that morning. 2234 01:40:07,674 --> 01:40:09,718 I had called him and he answered the phone. 2235 01:40:09,759 --> 01:40:11,594 And he was like, hey, what's up Sam? 2236 01:40:11,636 --> 01:40:13,972 I said, well, do you want to get the kids from school today? 2237 01:40:14,014 --> 01:40:15,348 And he was like, I would love that. 2238 01:40:15,390 --> 01:40:16,975 Yeah, I'm going to pick the kids up from school. 2239 01:40:17,017 --> 01:40:18,351 I said, OK, cool. 2240 01:40:18,393 --> 01:40:20,562 I think this was, like, 10:00 in the morning. 2241 01:40:20,603 --> 01:40:23,273 - He walks in the house, he's excited. 2242 01:40:23,314 --> 01:40:25,191 Just, hey, guys, what's up? 2243 01:40:25,233 --> 01:40:27,068 All the kids jumping on him and everything. 2244 01:40:27,110 --> 01:40:29,529 So he was just really, really happy. 2245 01:40:29,571 --> 01:40:32,032 And he's like, I'm going to go take a nap. 2246 01:40:32,073 --> 01:40:33,491 And I was like, all right, cool. 2247 01:40:33,533 --> 01:40:35,201 He goes to sleep around 2:00 PM. 2248 01:40:35,243 --> 01:40:38,371 [tense music] 2249 01:40:38,413 --> 01:40:39,998 So I'm doing my thing in the kitchen. 2250 01:40:40,040 --> 01:40:41,541 My mom's there. 2251 01:40:41,583 --> 01:40:44,878 And then his alarm starts going off at 3:00. 2252 01:40:44,919 --> 01:40:47,339 And so then I walked over and I was like, babe, 2253 01:40:47,380 --> 01:40:48,840 your alarm's going off. 2254 01:40:48,882 --> 01:40:52,677 And then I touched his leg, and he wouldn't move. 2255 01:40:52,719 --> 01:40:55,889 And so then like I started shaking him and hitting him, 2256 01:40:55,930 --> 01:40:57,182 and he wouldn't move. 2257 01:40:57,223 --> 01:40:59,934 And so I screamed for my mom. 2258 01:40:59,976 --> 01:41:01,311 * * 2259 01:41:01,353 --> 01:41:03,730 I call 911 immediately. 2260 01:41:03,772 --> 01:41:07,317 In the meantime, my mom is calling his mom. 2261 01:41:07,359 --> 01:41:09,569 * * 2262 01:41:09,611 --> 01:41:11,404 - She's screaming, Windham's having a heart attack. 2263 01:41:11,446 --> 01:41:12,822 Windham's having a heart attack. 2264 01:41:12,864 --> 01:41:14,741 And I'm like, no, no, no, no, no. 2265 01:41:14,783 --> 01:41:15,742 Put him on the phone. 2266 01:41:15,784 --> 01:41:17,202 Put him on the phone. 2267 01:41:17,243 --> 01:41:20,580 And I immediately called Taylor. 2268 01:41:20,622 --> 01:41:22,248 - She said she didn't know the details. 2269 01:41:22,290 --> 01:41:24,417 He just stopped breathing. 2270 01:41:24,459 --> 01:41:28,004 - I'm following them with him in the gurney. 2271 01:41:28,046 --> 01:41:30,423 And I kept yelling at him. 2272 01:41:30,465 --> 01:41:32,092 I'm like, please just come back to me. 2273 01:41:32,133 --> 01:41:35,845 I'm like, please just come back to me. 2274 01:41:35,887 --> 01:41:39,140 [somber music] 2275 01:41:39,182 --> 01:41:41,226 - My car was in the shop, 2276 01:41:41,267 --> 01:41:43,019 so I had to call Taylor and say, Taylor, 2277 01:41:43,061 --> 01:41:45,563 I need you to come get me and the baby now. 2278 01:41:45,605 --> 01:41:48,066 And I remember getting my baby dressed. 2279 01:41:48,108 --> 01:41:51,403 And I just kept saying to her, everything's going to be OK. 2280 01:41:51,444 --> 01:41:53,905 Everything's going to be OK. 2281 01:41:53,947 --> 01:41:59,244 And in the back of my mind, I just knew it's not OK. 2282 01:41:59,285 --> 01:42:01,204 * * 2283 01:42:01,246 --> 01:42:02,455 - As soon as we walked in, 2284 01:42:02,497 --> 01:42:05,500 they pulled us in a room alone. 2285 01:42:07,085 --> 01:42:08,586 The doctor walked in. 2286 01:42:08,628 --> 01:42:14,843 And it's like something you see 2287 01:42:14,884 --> 01:42:18,638 a million times in movies, 2288 01:42:18,680 --> 01:42:20,849 but you really don't know what it feels like 2289 01:42:20,890 --> 01:42:23,435 until it happens. 2290 01:42:27,981 --> 01:42:32,610 He said, we got bad news. 2291 01:42:35,739 --> 01:42:38,283 He's gone. 2292 01:42:38,324 --> 01:42:42,579 And it's like time slowed down. 2293 01:42:42,620 --> 01:42:47,167 I could see the reaction of everybody in the room. 2294 01:42:47,208 --> 01:42:49,586 My mom and dad crumbling. 2295 01:42:49,627 --> 01:42:53,923 And my sister, she's got her baby wrapped to her chest 2296 01:42:53,965 --> 01:42:55,508 and she's falling. 2297 01:42:55,550 --> 01:42:59,304 And I've never been more sad. 2298 01:42:59,346 --> 01:43:02,057 But something in me-- 2299 01:43:02,098 --> 01:43:06,811 and I still to this day think it was Windham-- 2300 01:43:06,853 --> 01:43:09,856 something in me gave me the strength to go, stop. 2301 01:43:09,898 --> 01:43:14,694 You need to hold them up. 2302 01:43:14,736 --> 01:43:20,367 He gave me strength in a moment where 2303 01:43:20,408 --> 01:43:22,869 I would think I would crumble. 2304 01:43:22,911 --> 01:43:27,916 And I really believe it was him. 2305 01:43:27,957 --> 01:43:33,296 And he was telling me, be there for Mom. 2306 01:43:33,338 --> 01:43:35,340 Hold her up. 2307 01:43:38,176 --> 01:43:40,970 - Taylor had to pick me up off the floor 2308 01:43:41,012 --> 01:43:47,143 and I just remember his hands felt so big. 2309 01:43:47,185 --> 01:43:51,106 He just held me, picked me up. 2310 01:43:51,147 --> 01:43:52,857 There was nothing we could do. 2311 01:43:52,899 --> 01:43:57,404 It was absolute disbelief that this isn't happening. 2312 01:43:57,445 --> 01:43:59,406 This is not real. 2313 01:43:59,447 --> 01:44:01,282 And I kept looking at Mike going, 2314 01:44:01,324 --> 01:44:03,243 Mike, you got to do something. 2315 01:44:03,284 --> 01:44:05,078 Fix this. Fix this now. 2316 01:44:05,120 --> 01:44:07,455 * * 2317 01:44:07,497 --> 01:44:10,041 - It was just heartbreaking. 2318 01:44:10,083 --> 01:44:14,295 Somebody sticking their fist in your chest 2319 01:44:14,337 --> 01:44:17,424 and pulling your heart out. 2320 01:44:17,465 --> 01:44:19,551 - My sister called me. 2321 01:44:19,592 --> 01:44:22,554 And all she said was... 2322 01:44:26,808 --> 01:44:28,810 Windham is gone. 2323 01:44:31,354 --> 01:44:33,440 - My phone rang when I was sitting on the plane. 2324 01:44:33,481 --> 01:44:35,442 And I answered it, 2325 01:44:35,483 --> 01:44:39,654 and JoJo said, he's gone. 2326 01:44:39,696 --> 01:44:42,365 And I said, what do you mean he's gone? 2327 01:44:42,407 --> 01:44:44,075 He's dead. 2328 01:44:44,117 --> 01:44:48,788 And I literally was walking off the airplane, 2329 01:44:48,830 --> 01:44:51,499 I dropped to my knees on the jet bridge. 2330 01:44:51,541 --> 01:44:53,752 And I just-- 2331 01:44:57,005 --> 01:45:01,676 I felt like, all of a sudden, something was missing from me. 2332 01:45:01,718 --> 01:45:03,595 - I got a phone call, and it was Jo. 2333 01:45:03,636 --> 01:45:07,015 She goes, Windham's gone. 2334 01:45:11,478 --> 01:45:14,314 And I screamed. 2335 01:45:14,356 --> 01:45:15,690 - All I could think about is, 2336 01:45:15,732 --> 01:45:18,276 how am I going to tell my children-- 2337 01:45:18,318 --> 01:45:20,820 they're three and four-- that they just lost their dad? 2338 01:45:20,862 --> 01:45:23,114 * * 2339 01:45:23,156 --> 01:45:25,992 - People say like, it was a nightmare. 2340 01:45:26,034 --> 01:45:28,536 But you don't know what that feels like until 2341 01:45:28,578 --> 01:45:31,081 you live a nightmare. 2342 01:45:31,122 --> 01:45:35,043 - It was and will forever be 2343 01:45:35,085 --> 01:45:38,171 the worst day of my life. 2344 01:45:38,213 --> 01:45:40,173 * * 2345 01:45:40,215 --> 01:45:43,134 - He didn't have the vest on. 2346 01:45:43,176 --> 01:45:46,846 Don't know what happened. 2347 01:45:46,888 --> 01:45:48,640 * * 2348 01:45:48,682 --> 01:45:53,228 - Windham Rotunda passed away. 2349 01:45:53,269 --> 01:45:56,231 He was 36 years old. 2350 01:45:56,272 --> 01:46:01,695 * * 2351 01:46:01,736 --> 01:46:04,823 Just 24 hours after Windham's passing, 2352 01:46:04,864 --> 01:46:07,325 WWE's Friday Night SmackDown program 2353 01:46:07,367 --> 01:46:11,496 was set to air live from Louisville, Kentucky. 2354 01:46:15,125 --> 01:46:17,836 Life is short. 2355 01:46:17,877 --> 01:46:22,298 This doesn't tell you anything else. 2356 01:46:22,340 --> 01:46:24,426 It's short. 2357 01:46:25,719 --> 01:46:28,430 It still feels-- it's still surreal. 2358 01:46:28,471 --> 01:46:29,973 I still feel like I just 2359 01:46:30,015 --> 01:46:32,976 haven't seen him for a little while, you know, 2360 01:46:33,018 --> 01:46:39,357 because he was so larger-than-life as a person 2361 01:46:39,399 --> 01:46:46,031 and so big personality-wise and everything was so good. 2362 01:46:46,072 --> 01:46:51,953 And for somebody that young, it's just a crazy-- 2363 01:46:54,789 --> 01:46:57,500 I don't know how to put it into words. 2364 01:46:57,542 --> 01:46:59,252 36 years old. 2365 01:46:59,294 --> 01:47:00,378 Cherish it. 2366 01:47:00,420 --> 01:47:02,339 Cherish each other. 2367 01:47:02,380 --> 01:47:05,258 - Sitting here doing this whole thing about Windham, 2368 01:47:05,300 --> 01:47:08,678 and even now, there's still a huge part of me 2369 01:47:08,720 --> 01:47:10,263 that's in total denial. 2370 01:47:10,305 --> 01:47:12,223 You know what I mean? 2371 01:47:17,562 --> 01:47:20,231 Yeah. 2372 01:47:20,273 --> 01:47:23,860 - I just didn't believe it. 2373 01:47:23,902 --> 01:47:25,612 I just thought it was bullshit. 2374 01:47:25,653 --> 01:47:28,406 I just thought it wasn't real. 2375 01:47:28,448 --> 01:47:31,201 Sometimes, even now, I still don't think it's real. 2376 01:47:34,162 --> 01:47:35,497 Yeah. I don't know. 2377 01:47:35,538 --> 01:47:37,999 It sucked. It still sucks. 2378 01:47:41,211 --> 01:47:43,588 - Everything we wanted to do 2379 01:47:43,630 --> 01:47:48,009 was a tribute to Bray. 2380 01:47:49,344 --> 01:47:51,846 Just to say thank you. 2381 01:47:54,474 --> 01:47:57,602 [bell dinging] 2382 01:48:07,946 --> 01:48:10,824 - Just a barrage of different feelings in my head. 2383 01:48:13,201 --> 01:48:15,745 I miss him. 2384 01:48:15,787 --> 01:48:21,167 - He was just a light in everyone's lives. 2385 01:48:21,209 --> 01:48:24,754 - He was one of the greatest people I've ever met. 2386 01:48:24,796 --> 01:48:26,423 And I wouldn't be where I am in my life 2387 01:48:26,464 --> 01:48:28,341 without meeting him. 2388 01:48:28,383 --> 01:48:31,469 I miss you. I miss you. 2389 01:48:31,511 --> 01:48:35,515 * * 2390 01:48:35,557 --> 01:48:38,059 - He touched a lot of people. 2391 01:48:38,101 --> 01:48:39,769 * * 2392 01:48:39,811 --> 01:48:43,023 He was loved by millions. 2393 01:48:43,064 --> 01:48:46,151 * * 2394 01:48:46,192 --> 01:48:49,529 - Windham's sudden passing left the entire WWE Universe 2395 01:48:49,571 --> 01:48:52,073 in shock. 2396 01:48:52,115 --> 01:48:55,118 Honoring his legacy would be a tall task. 2397 01:48:59,581 --> 01:49:01,416 all: Thank you, Bray! Thank you, Bray! 2398 01:49:01,458 --> 01:49:04,377 Thank you, Bray! Thank you, Bray! 2399 01:49:04,419 --> 01:49:08,840 - Following Windham's passing, in arenas across the country, 2400 01:49:08,882 --> 01:49:14,012 superstars and fans paid tribute to Bray Wyatt. 2401 01:49:14,054 --> 01:49:17,349 - I know that all of you can feel the spirit 2402 01:49:17,390 --> 01:49:19,267 of Bray Wyatt in this building. 2403 01:49:19,309 --> 01:49:21,895 [cheers and applause] 2404 01:49:21,936 --> 01:49:24,898 - That was the one time where I kind of struggled. 2405 01:49:24,939 --> 01:49:26,566 It started to break me. 2406 01:49:26,608 --> 01:49:28,985 I had to look at the ceiling to keep everything together, 2407 01:49:29,027 --> 01:49:31,321 and just big deep breath. 2408 01:49:31,363 --> 01:49:33,531 - This one is for Windham. 2409 01:49:33,573 --> 01:49:35,867 Hug the ones that you love. 2410 01:49:35,909 --> 01:49:37,577 He was a special human being. 2411 01:49:37,619 --> 01:49:39,245 He was a good human being. 2412 01:49:39,287 --> 01:49:42,040 There's just not very many people like Windham Rotunda. 2413 01:49:42,082 --> 01:49:44,959 There's nobody like Windham Rotunda. 2414 01:49:45,001 --> 01:49:48,338 - I'll always think of him for the rest of my career 2415 01:49:48,380 --> 01:49:51,591 every single time I see these fireflies. 2416 01:49:51,633 --> 01:49:55,845 [cheers and applause] 2417 01:49:55,887 --> 01:49:57,597 It was the only therapy that I was able 2418 01:49:57,639 --> 01:50:00,642 to get was in that ring. 2419 01:50:00,684 --> 01:50:04,979 He was truly a beautiful soul inside of the ring and out. 2420 01:50:05,021 --> 01:50:09,192 - It was touching to see so many people care 2421 01:50:09,234 --> 01:50:12,821 and know that he touched so many people. 2422 01:50:12,862 --> 01:50:17,992 - He really touched lives from all over the world. 2423 01:50:18,034 --> 01:50:19,994 - It was just overwhelming-- 2424 01:50:20,036 --> 01:50:24,666 really overwhelming to see how much he was loved. 2425 01:50:24,708 --> 01:50:27,293 I was like, wow. 2426 01:50:27,335 --> 01:50:28,712 Wow. 2427 01:50:28,753 --> 01:50:30,005 He was loved. 2428 01:50:33,967 --> 01:50:37,804 [soft music] 2429 01:50:37,846 --> 01:50:40,390 - September 6th. 2430 01:50:40,432 --> 01:50:42,767 Two weeks after Windham's passing, 2431 01:50:42,809 --> 01:50:44,936 a service was held in his hometown 2432 01:50:44,978 --> 01:50:47,814 of Brooksville, Florida. 2433 01:50:47,856 --> 01:50:50,984 - To go and plan your son's funeral 2434 01:50:51,026 --> 01:50:53,820 is the worst thing in the world. 2435 01:50:53,862 --> 01:50:56,489 It was the hardest thing in the world. 2436 01:50:56,531 --> 01:50:58,533 * * 2437 01:50:58,575 --> 01:51:02,537 - We wanted it to be very Windham down to his urn. 2438 01:51:02,579 --> 01:51:03,788 Very much like him. 2439 01:51:03,830 --> 01:51:06,332 And it's a flame. 2440 01:51:06,374 --> 01:51:09,669 - The smoke going off and the red lights, 2441 01:51:09,711 --> 01:51:11,379 it was a Windham funeral. 2442 01:51:11,421 --> 01:51:13,798 And it made me smile. 2443 01:51:13,840 --> 01:51:16,926 - Seeing everyone together-- how important he was 2444 01:51:16,968 --> 01:51:18,887 to so many people-- 2445 01:51:18,928 --> 01:51:22,849 that speaks volumes for the man that he was. 2446 01:51:22,891 --> 01:51:24,517 - I did get to go to the funeral. 2447 01:51:24,559 --> 01:51:27,395 And there was some closure there. 2448 01:51:27,437 --> 01:51:31,024 But at the same time, how can there be closure 2449 01:51:31,066 --> 01:51:35,737 on a guy who was just stepping into his prime, really? 2450 01:51:37,864 --> 01:51:42,660 - I was hurting more that day than I ever thought possible. 2451 01:51:42,702 --> 01:51:45,121 I really don't know how I'm going to get through this. 2452 01:51:45,163 --> 01:51:51,336 But I know Windham would have done this for me, 2453 01:51:51,378 --> 01:51:55,423 and he would have ended up killing it. 2454 01:51:55,465 --> 01:51:57,384 He really would have. 2455 01:51:57,425 --> 01:52:03,390 He wasn't just my big brother or my best friend. 2456 01:52:03,431 --> 01:52:06,851 He was my idol. 2457 01:52:06,893 --> 01:52:08,645 - Windham was Taylor's superhero. 2458 01:52:08,687 --> 01:52:11,940 The eulogy that Taylor gave at Windham's service 2459 01:52:11,981 --> 01:52:15,568 was unbelievable. 2460 01:52:15,610 --> 01:52:19,989 - He is and always will be the most beautiful, 2461 01:52:20,031 --> 01:52:24,536 amazing person I've ever known. 2462 01:52:24,577 --> 01:52:27,664 I love you so much, Windham. 2463 01:52:27,706 --> 01:52:29,249 - I could feel Windham's comfort 2464 01:52:29,290 --> 01:52:31,793 as I stood up there to speak. 2465 01:52:31,835 --> 01:52:33,962 A couple months ago, I had this unique opportunity. 2466 01:52:34,004 --> 01:52:37,549 My dad actually asked me to do it. 2467 01:52:37,590 --> 01:52:39,426 He's working on a book. 2468 01:52:39,467 --> 01:52:43,555 And he said, you know, set something up with the boys 2469 01:52:43,596 --> 01:52:46,224 and interview them and get some transcripts. 2470 01:52:46,266 --> 01:52:48,435 Just talking about our family and the values 2471 01:52:48,476 --> 01:52:49,853 and how we grew up. 2472 01:52:49,894 --> 01:52:51,521 * * 2473 01:52:51,563 --> 01:52:53,606 I had no idea that Windham was going to tell us 2474 01:52:53,648 --> 01:52:57,068 how he wanted to be remembered. 2475 01:52:57,110 --> 01:52:59,446 - I want to leave a mark that makes me 2476 01:52:59,487 --> 01:53:02,574 a first-ballot Hall of Famer and makes all my kids proud. 2477 01:53:02,615 --> 01:53:04,909 But honestly, at the end of the day, 2478 01:53:04,951 --> 01:53:06,911 when I go into the dirt, 2479 01:53:06,953 --> 01:53:09,456 I think that I will be remembered 2480 01:53:09,497 --> 01:53:11,666 for far more things than just wrestling. 2481 01:53:11,708 --> 01:53:15,337 Making sure that my kids and JoJo, everybody, 2482 01:53:15,378 --> 01:53:17,047 that they know they can count on me 2483 01:53:17,088 --> 01:53:19,883 and that I will be there for them no matter what. 2484 01:53:19,924 --> 01:53:23,136 * * 2485 01:53:23,178 --> 01:53:29,476 - Windham was gone, but his ideas live on. 2486 01:53:29,517 --> 01:53:33,188 He still has one final creation 2487 01:53:33,229 --> 01:53:35,648 to share with the world. 2488 01:53:35,690 --> 01:53:37,692 * * 2489 01:53:37,734 --> 01:53:39,652 - He was here a bunch. 2490 01:53:39,694 --> 01:53:41,946 He came, like, three or four times over the summer 2491 01:53:41,988 --> 01:53:43,156 spitballing ideas-- 2492 01:53:43,198 --> 01:53:45,367 I want to do this. I want to do that. 2493 01:53:45,408 --> 01:53:48,828 And from there, we started working on the new Fiend. 2494 01:53:48,870 --> 01:53:50,830 We made the new lantern. 2495 01:53:50,872 --> 01:53:52,248 We threw a little animatronics in there 2496 01:53:52,290 --> 01:53:54,876 so the eyes move back and forth. 2497 01:53:56,294 --> 01:53:59,214 We made the new mask, started talking about gear. 2498 01:53:59,255 --> 01:54:00,507 Windham always wanted something new, 2499 01:54:00,548 --> 01:54:02,217 something fresh, something different. 2500 01:54:02,258 --> 01:54:05,679 What would the next evolution of The Fiend be? 2501 01:54:05,720 --> 01:54:08,682 [soft music] 2502 01:54:08,723 --> 01:54:11,476 * * 2503 01:54:11,518 --> 01:54:15,063 * * 2504 01:54:15,105 --> 01:54:17,565 We 3D sculpted a body form of Windham. 2505 01:54:17,607 --> 01:54:19,776 The mask had already been approved by Windham. 2506 01:54:19,818 --> 01:54:22,237 This jacket was actually something he had purchased, 2507 01:54:22,278 --> 01:54:24,864 and his mother and father had sent it to us. 2508 01:54:24,906 --> 01:54:27,158 So we were able to use that. 2509 01:54:27,200 --> 01:54:29,494 Windham always loved little Easter eggs. 2510 01:54:29,536 --> 01:54:31,955 When we did the original lantern, if you look, 2511 01:54:31,996 --> 01:54:33,331 the eyes just look like stitches, 2512 01:54:33,373 --> 01:54:35,166 but they're actually Roman numerals 2513 01:54:35,208 --> 01:54:37,502 of Knash, his son's, birthday. 2514 01:54:37,544 --> 01:54:40,547 So we just kept that tradition going. 2515 01:54:40,588 --> 01:54:42,632 The pinstripe, Windham got the idea 2516 01:54:42,674 --> 01:54:45,760 to do each one of his children's names. 2517 01:54:45,802 --> 01:54:48,179 He loved making you look at something twice to find 2518 01:54:48,221 --> 01:54:50,557 something else more about it. 2519 01:54:50,598 --> 01:54:53,601 The stitches we did in a way to where they're actually 2520 01:54:53,643 --> 01:54:55,729 the Roman numerals of what would have been 2521 01:54:55,770 --> 01:54:58,606 his wedding anniversary, which is December 6th. 2522 01:54:58,648 --> 01:55:00,233 12 on this side. 2523 01:55:00,275 --> 01:55:04,237 And then here, we have the six. 2524 01:55:04,279 --> 01:55:05,864 One of the ideas that Windham had was, 2525 01:55:05,905 --> 01:55:08,241 instead of doing the spider walk where he leans backwards, 2526 01:55:08,283 --> 01:55:10,035 if we did something where he could lean forward. 2527 01:55:10,076 --> 01:55:11,911 His hair would kind of fly up over. 2528 01:55:11,953 --> 01:55:13,413 So when he was crawling around, 2529 01:55:13,455 --> 01:55:14,873 he would expose the second mask, 2530 01:55:14,914 --> 01:55:15,999 which would be hidden by his hair. 2531 01:55:16,041 --> 01:55:17,709 Gross, disgusting face on the front. 2532 01:55:17,751 --> 01:55:19,669 But then on the back, we'd have this beautiful face. 2533 01:55:19,711 --> 01:55:22,213 And to Windham, the most beautiful face was JoJo's. 2534 01:55:22,255 --> 01:55:24,007 So we 3D scanned JoJo's face. 2535 01:55:24,049 --> 01:55:27,594 And we were able to make a copy of that and then sculpt it. 2536 01:55:27,635 --> 01:55:30,096 And we decided to put these mockingbirds on there. 2537 01:55:30,138 --> 01:55:33,183 That's another homage to JoJo. 2538 01:55:33,224 --> 01:55:35,101 Windham's nickname for JoJo was Mockingbird. 2539 01:55:35,143 --> 01:55:41,608 * * 2540 01:55:41,649 --> 01:55:44,402 It's devastatingly heartbreaking that 2541 01:55:44,444 --> 01:55:45,820 this is the last thing I ever get to work on 2542 01:55:45,862 --> 01:55:47,280 with my best friend. 2543 01:55:47,322 --> 01:55:50,367 But I couldn't be more proud of my crew and everyone 2544 01:55:50,408 --> 01:55:54,662 that came together that helped us bring this to life. 2545 01:55:56,623 --> 01:55:59,209 I think it really just hurts the most 2546 01:55:59,250 --> 01:56:01,670 that I never got to tell him how much he meant to me. 2547 01:56:03,797 --> 01:56:05,423 It never felt work with him. 2548 01:56:05,465 --> 01:56:07,092 I just felt like I got to hang out with my best friend, 2549 01:56:07,133 --> 01:56:09,803 and I miss that. 2550 01:56:09,844 --> 01:56:14,307 If I can give this to his fans which meant the world to him, 2551 01:56:14,349 --> 01:56:16,768 then not all of him is completely gone. 2552 01:56:16,810 --> 01:56:19,646 So if I get to help my friend live on 2553 01:56:19,688 --> 01:56:23,650 in some way or capacity, I'll be OK with that. 2554 01:56:23,692 --> 01:56:25,485 I can do that. 2555 01:56:27,278 --> 01:56:31,616 - He's not gone, because the art he left 2556 01:56:31,658 --> 01:56:36,329 and his ideas will live on forever. 2557 01:56:39,207 --> 01:56:41,376 - The real him was much, much more 2558 01:56:41,418 --> 01:56:42,794 and much more entertaining 2559 01:56:42,836 --> 01:56:44,546 than any of his characters could be. 2560 01:56:44,587 --> 01:56:49,676 He was very entertaining always. 2561 01:56:49,718 --> 01:56:54,347 And he did that for them, but you know, we got him. 2562 01:56:54,389 --> 01:56:56,891 And he's missed a lot. 2563 01:56:56,933 --> 01:56:59,894 [somber music] 2564 01:56:59,936 --> 01:57:03,857 * * 2565 01:57:03,898 --> 01:57:06,901 - January 2024. 2566 01:57:06,943 --> 01:57:11,406 It's been five months since Windham passed. 2567 01:57:11,448 --> 01:57:15,952 While he is gone, 2568 01:57:15,994 --> 01:57:20,665 you can still see him here. 2569 01:57:20,707 --> 01:57:23,960 - We can put a little bit of pink on the rainbow. 2570 01:57:24,002 --> 01:57:25,003 - Good idea. 2571 01:57:25,045 --> 01:57:26,796 * * 2572 01:57:26,838 --> 01:57:28,882 - His smile. 2573 01:57:28,923 --> 01:57:31,051 * * 2574 01:57:31,092 --> 01:57:32,761 His life. 2575 01:57:32,802 --> 01:57:34,596 * * 2576 01:57:34,637 --> 01:57:37,515 His hope. 2577 01:57:37,557 --> 01:57:40,560 - My name is Cadyn Cole Rotunda. 2578 01:57:40,602 --> 01:57:43,229 - My name is Kendyl Marie Rotunda. 2579 01:57:43,271 --> 01:57:45,190 * * 2580 01:57:45,231 --> 01:57:48,485 - I like to play sports. 2581 01:57:48,526 --> 01:57:50,570 I just like shoes. It's fun. 2582 01:57:50,612 --> 01:57:52,864 I just liked it 'cause like, me and my dad did it together. 2583 01:57:52,906 --> 01:57:54,574 So yeah. 2584 01:57:54,616 --> 01:57:55,992 * * 2585 01:57:56,034 --> 01:57:59,913 - I want to travel everywhere and become an artist. 2586 01:57:59,954 --> 01:58:02,248 * * 2587 01:58:02,290 --> 01:58:04,918 - He's definitely in all four kids. 2588 01:58:04,959 --> 01:58:06,836 * * 2589 01:58:06,878 --> 01:58:09,214 They all four take after him in some way. 2590 01:58:09,255 --> 01:58:11,007 * * 2591 01:58:11,049 --> 01:58:14,803 - Hyrie, I'd probably say chaos. 2592 01:58:14,844 --> 01:58:20,558 Cadyn, probably smart. 2593 01:58:20,600 --> 01:58:23,269 Knash, he's just a dinosaur. 2594 01:58:23,311 --> 01:58:24,729 Just a dinosaur. 2595 01:58:24,771 --> 01:58:31,486 * * 2596 01:58:31,528 --> 01:58:35,573 - Knock on wood--if you believe in afterlife, 2597 01:58:35,615 --> 01:58:38,201 you know, we will get to see him again. 2598 01:58:41,371 --> 01:58:44,249 - My fire and love for the business 2599 01:58:44,290 --> 01:58:46,543 has to burn brighter than it ever has 2600 01:58:46,584 --> 01:58:50,547 because he's given me the strength and passion 2601 01:58:50,588 --> 01:58:53,800 to want to carry his legacy on. 2602 01:58:53,842 --> 01:58:56,052 * * 2603 01:58:56,094 --> 01:58:58,346 If you asked him what he was, 2604 01:58:58,388 --> 01:59:00,974 he would say he's an artist. 2605 01:59:01,016 --> 01:59:03,393 * * 2606 01:59:03,435 --> 01:59:09,399 - * He's got the whole world * 2607 01:59:09,441 --> 01:59:14,487 * In his hands * 2608 01:59:14,529 --> 01:59:20,660 - The dad he was, the son, the brother... 2609 01:59:20,702 --> 01:59:21,661 * * 2610 01:59:21,703 --> 01:59:24,330 Everything of who he was, 2611 01:59:24,372 --> 01:59:26,332 he was the best at it. 2612 01:59:26,374 --> 01:59:28,460 - I'm something completely different 2613 01:59:28,501 --> 01:59:30,670 than has ever been in the WWE. 2614 01:59:30,712 --> 01:59:33,298 We're here. 2615 01:59:33,340 --> 01:59:37,427 - Windham once said, wrestling is not a love story. 2616 01:59:37,469 --> 01:59:40,430 It's much more. 2617 01:59:40,472 --> 01:59:46,478 It's hope, a spectacle no one can deny, 2618 01:59:46,519 --> 01:59:48,730 an excuse to be a kid again. 2619 01:59:48,772 --> 01:59:53,068 And nothing matters except the moment we are in. 2620 01:59:53,109 --> 01:59:58,323 - Walk by my side, and I will lead you to paradise! 2621 01:59:58,365 --> 02:00:00,408 [dramatic music] 2622 02:00:00,450 --> 02:00:04,454 - And that is how Windham Rotunda lived. 2623 02:00:04,496 --> 02:00:08,458 - I am the color red in a world full of black and white. 2624 02:00:08,500 --> 02:00:10,543 - One of the most unique minds. 2625 02:00:10,585 --> 02:00:13,672 Changed the landscape. 2626 02:00:13,713 --> 02:00:15,882 - He inspired not only the fans, 2627 02:00:15,924 --> 02:00:17,717 but a lot of the boys in the locker room 2628 02:00:17,759 --> 02:00:20,387 to push themselves to be more creative. 2629 02:00:20,428 --> 02:00:22,097 - There's a love for this industry. 2630 02:00:22,138 --> 02:00:25,892 And what he gave to it was something special. 2631 02:00:25,934 --> 02:00:29,729 - Nobody ever has taken the risks that he has. 2632 02:00:29,771 --> 02:00:32,232 - He opened up a world that no one could ever do. 2633 02:00:32,273 --> 02:00:36,111 - I am forever. 2634 02:00:36,152 --> 02:00:38,863 - I think he is the template for taking chances 2635 02:00:38,905 --> 02:00:41,449 and the template for being brave. 2636 02:00:41,491 --> 02:00:44,077 - Do I have your attention now? 2637 02:00:44,119 --> 02:00:48,581 * * 2638 02:00:48,623 --> 02:00:55,380 - The greatest human I have ever known, hands down. 2639 02:00:55,422 --> 02:00:57,090 - One of a kind. 2640 02:00:57,132 --> 02:00:59,217 There will only be one Windham. 2641 02:00:59,259 --> 02:01:04,389 - * He's got the whole world * 2642 02:01:04,431 --> 02:01:07,350 * * 2643 02:01:13,481 --> 02:01:14,816 - OK. Stand by. 2644 02:01:14,858 --> 02:01:16,026 Ready to roll. 2645 02:01:16,067 --> 02:01:19,029 [funky music] 2646 02:01:19,070 --> 02:01:25,994 * * 2647 02:01:27,954 --> 02:01:29,789 - I've been very honored to be asked 2648 02:01:29,831 --> 02:01:31,708 to be part of this project. 2649 02:01:31,750 --> 02:01:33,543 It's kind of bizarre to know 2650 02:01:33,585 --> 02:01:35,754 that I worked with Mike. 2651 02:01:35,795 --> 02:01:37,547 And then I remember meeting 2652 02:01:37,589 --> 02:01:40,383 both boys when they were small kids. 2653 02:01:40,425 --> 02:01:44,095 And then actually working at WrestleMania with Windham. 2654 02:01:44,137 --> 02:01:47,098 You talk about things coming full circle. 2655 02:01:47,140 --> 02:01:50,268 I could always see in Windham that he was so different. 2656 02:01:50,310 --> 02:01:53,646 And you have very few people that come along 2657 02:01:53,688 --> 02:01:56,066 that actually think outside of the box. 2658 02:01:56,107 --> 02:01:59,402 He was obviously taken from us way too soon. 2659 02:01:59,444 --> 02:02:00,737 I know what he would have been, 2660 02:02:00,779 --> 02:02:03,656 and it would have been really, really special. 2661 02:02:03,698 --> 02:02:08,036 - * Broken-hearted love * 2662 02:02:13,750 --> 02:02:14,876 [static] 2663 02:02:14,918 --> 02:02:15,877 [beeping] 2664 02:02:18,338 --> 02:02:19,506 [eerie music] 2665 02:02:19,547 --> 02:02:26,054 * * 2666 02:02:31,059 --> 02:02:32,894 - Run.